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C&3RIGHT DEPOSm 



OTHER BOOKS 

BY 

Dr. Willard Rouse Jillson 



GEOLOGY 

Oil and Gat Reiouic.i of Kentucky, 1919. 
Geology and Coals of Stinking Creek, 1919. 
Contribution* to Kentucky Geology, 1920. 
Economic Paper* on Kentucky Geology, 1921. 
Production of Eastern Kentucky Crude Oils, 1921. 
The Sixth Geological Survey, 1921. 
Oil Field Stratigraphy of Kentucky, 1922. 

HISTORY 

The Coal Industry in Kentucky, 1922 

BIOGRAPHY 

Edwin P. Morrow — Kentuckian, 1922. 

VERSE 

Songs and Satires, 1920. 



THE 

Conservation of Natural Gas 
in Kentucky 




A GAS FIELD WASTE 

In this Eastern Kentucky well the driller is "blowing the "gas head" 
off. The well produced oil, which the driller wasted as "an experiment." 



THE 

Conservation of Natural Gas 
In Kentucky 



BY 

Willard Rouse Jillson 

B. S., M. S., Sc. b. 

Director and State Geologist of the Kentucky 
Geological Survey 



Illustrated with Forty-four New Photographs, 
Maps and Diagrams 



© 



FIRST EDITION 



JOHN P. MORTON & COMPANY 

incorporated 

Louisville, Kentucky 

19 2 2 



»» 



< *H- 



Copyright 1922 By 
WILLARD ROUSE JILLSON 



All Rights Reserved 



FEB 1 8 1922 



®1A653850 



To My 

FATHER 

From whom I learned in youth the value of 

Patience and Perseverance 

this little book 

is 

dedicated 



CONTENTS 



Page 
Illustrations 9 

Preface 11 

Chapter I 
The Age of Waste 17 

Chapter II 
Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 26 

Chapter III 
Our Natural Gas Industries 68 

Chapter IV 
Trend of Critical Comment 103 

Chapter V 
Natural Gas Conservation 124 

Selected Bibliography 145 

Index 147 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 
A Gas Field Waste Frontispiece 

1. A Pipe Line Nearly on End 18 

2. Ignorance Resulting in Loss 21 

3. A Gasser Correctly Closed In 24 

4. Gas Pipe Line Construction in Timber 27 

5. A Standard Drilling Rig 28 

6. A Taylor County Gasser 29 

7. Natural Gas Pools and Pipe Lines (Map) 32 

8. Location, and Decline Curves of Beaver Creek Gas Field 34 

9. Location, and Decline Curves of Martin County Gas 

Field 38 

10. Location, and Decline Curves of Win Gas Field 42 

11. Location, and Decline Curves of Menifee County Gas 

Field 48 

12. Location, and Decline Curves of Meade County Gas 

Field • 54 

13. An Oil Field Waste 56 

14. A Natural Gas Structure 60 

15. Drilling for Gas with a Portable Rig 63 

16. Preliminary Work on Gas Pipe Line 70 

17. Up Hill, Down Hill, and On 71 

18. Kentucky Produced and Imported Natural Gas 74 

19. Central Kentucky Natural Gas Company's Pressure 

Plant 78 

20. Eastern Carbon Plant in Operation 80 

21. North View of Liberty Carbon Plant 84 

22. Northeastern View of Eastern Carbon Plant 86 

23. Making Natural Gas Carbon Black 89 

24. A Portable Drilling Rig . . 91 

25. Liberty Carbon Plant in Operation 93 

26. Railroad Yard — Liberty Carbon Company, Floyd County, 

Kentucky 95 

27. A Portion of the Beaver Creek Gas Field (Map) 96 

28. Not Bathing — Repairing a Leak 98 

29. Lowering a Twelve-Inch Line 101 

30. Gas Line Construction in Johnson County 104 

31. Not a Quarry— A Pipe Line 106 

32. "Blowing a Gasser" 108 



Page 

33. A Temple Hill Gasser "Closed In" 111 

34. Gas Pipe Lines Must Cross Creeks 115 

35. What the Consumer Does Not Know 125 

36. Ready for the Gas Main---.- _. 127 

37. Where a Pipe Line Withstood a Washout 130 

38. A "Closed In" Kentucky, Gasser — 132 

39. A Twelve-Inch Gas Pipe Line Crossing the Kentucky 

River 134 

40. Drainage vs. a Gas Pipe Line 137 

41. A Menifee County "Booster" _ 139 

42. A Gas Pipe Line Near the Big Sandy-- 141 

43. Telephone Line and Natural Gas Pipe Line 143 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 



CONSERVATION is not a word to be dealt with 
lightly. Its implications are many, and its value 
frequently has to be accepted as good while con- 
tingent upon a future return. A practical application of 
conservation ahvays necessitates an industrial readjust- 
ment, and this in turn generally brings about financial 
and business hardships for various individuals and cor- 
porations. The interests of a large community or group 
of communities have never been advanced except at the 
sacrifice of the few. 

In the natural gas problem the necessity for immediate 
conservation is perhaps more vividly apparent than in 
any of the other mineral resources. This is particularly 
true of the gas reserves of Kentucky. The really serious 
situation which has developed in our sister States of 
West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania may be delayed 
in Kentucky if effective preservation measures are intro- 
duced at once. The matter is urgent. As in all regional 
problems of natural resource conservation, the actual 
co-operation of the individual producer and consumer, as 
well as that of the conservation-effecting agent, will be 
required if the best results are to be obtained. 




State Geologist of Kentucky. 



Old State Capitol, 
Frankfort, Kentucky. 
January 15, 1922. 



THE 

Conservation of Natural Gas 
in Kentucky 



CHAPTER I 
THE AGE OF WASTE 

At no time in the history of the world has the rate of 
industrial expansion been as rapid as during the past 
decade. This is especially true of the United States. The 
Northeastern and Middle West manufacturing regions of 
this country have literally been hives of industry. As 
might naturally be expected, the development of the 
mineral resources of the world and of the United States 
in particular has plunged ahead at an unprecedented 
rate during this period. Mining has been, in fact, a 
complement of our industrial growth. 

New manufacturing industries, as well as new kinds 
of manufacturing, have created new and increased 
markets, and an incessant demand for the basic crude 
minerals of this country. This has been true of coal, 
petroleum, gas, and the iron, lead, zinc and copper ores. 
The drain has been particularly severe at the same time 
on the forest resources of this country, especially the 
southern Appalachian region ; but this latter problem is 
outside the province of this discussion, though eco- 
nomically closely related to it. 

In the feverish haste of the mineral resource pro- 
ducers to supply an ever growing and gluttonous market 
on all sides, there has crept unheeded and unchallenged 
into the producing industries such practices as should not 
only shock our present day somewhat skeptical con- 
sciences, but cause us to anxiously contemplate the 
probable status of our national economic security in the 
not too far distant future. Certain it is that in the years 
to come our posterity will be forced to solve many difficult 
and entirely unnecessary mineral producing problems 



16 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

because of our present day reckless extravagance. At the 
same time very greatly reduced supplies of mineral 
resources and their widespread substitution will become 
the rule. 

Natural Gas Depletion At Hand 

Indeed the first day of natural resource diminution 
and hunger is at hand. Figures compiled for the entire 
United States show that the peak natural gas production 
of 795,110,376,000 cubic feet was reached in 1917. This 
great fuel resource, once considered an oil field liability, 
later an important by-product, and finally a household 
and industrial necessity, decreased 74,109,417,000 cubic 
feet or 9 per cent in 1918. Present indications are that 
the decline has continued on down through 1919, 1920, 
and 1921, though the exact figures to verify this statement 
are not available now. 

The situation during the last few years has become so 
acute that many industries using natural gas have been 
forced to abandon it. Domestic and industrial consumers 
in outlying sections have been forced to substitute coal, 
and in those municipalities located close to or within the 
great gas fields of the Appalachian region rates for pur- 
chase have been rapidly increased as the supply has 
waned. In such cities as Cleveland, Columbus, Cincin- 
nati, Huntington, Charleston, Wheeling, Ashland, Lex- 
ington, Louisville, and Pittsburgh there has already been 
introduced or is now in the process of introduction a 
sliding upward scale for the purchase of natural gas. 
Some conservation legislation has also been introduced in 
the Appalachian district to keep unused supplies of 
natural gas within the boundaries of the State in which 
dt 'W produced. 



The Age of Waste 17 



Petroleum Reserves Are Limited 

The interpretation of a special report recently com- 
pleted showing the petroleum reserves of the United 
States to be 9,150,000,000 barrels, indicates clearly that 
the pangs of severe mineral resource hunger will in all 
probability be felt in this industry between 1940 and 
1950. The following passages excerpted from this report* 
allow but a single construction — the imperative need of 
rigid economy and conservation : 

". . . . the oil reserves of the country, as the 
public has frequently been warned, appear adequate to 
supply the demand for only a limited number of years. 
The annual production of the country is now almost half 
a billion barrels, but the annual consumption, already 
well beyond the half billion mark, is still growing. For 
some years we have had to import oil, and with the 
growth in demand, our dependence on foreign oil has 
become steadily greater, in spite of our own increase in 
output. It is, therefore, evident that the people of the 
United States should be informed as fully as possible as 
to the reserves now left in this country 

"The estimated reserves are enough to satisfy the 
present requirements of the United States for only 20 
years, if the oil could be taken out of the ground as fast 
as it is wanted. Should these estimates fall even so much 
as two billion barrels short of the actual recovery, that 
error of 22 per cent would be equivalent to but four 
years' supply, a relatively short extension of life. . . . 

' ' In the light of these estimates as to the extent of our 
supplies of natural petroleum, the committee points out 
the stern obligation of the citizen, the producer, and the 
Government to give most serious study to the more com- 



* Press notice U. S. G. S. 12198, January, 192! 



18 



Natueal Gas of Kentucky 




A PIPE LINE NEARLY ON END 

The construction of a natural gas pipe line in Eastern Kentucky is 
attended with great difficulty, as this view shows. 



The Age of Waste 19 



plete extraction of the oil from the ground, as well as to 
the avoidance of waste, either through direct losses or 
through misuse of crude oil or its products. ' ' 

As the domestic supply of natural petroleum de- 
creases, prices for the many commodity necessities refined 
from it will increase materially and progressively. 
Throughout this country those industries and individuals 
making use of products refined from petroleum will be 
forced to meet the advancing cost. Such costs for many 
will be prohibitive. Substitutes both good and bad w T ill 
flood the market. Inferior makeshifts will no doubt 
depreciate the arts and many industries. The automo- 
bile and the industrial gas engine will in a large measure 
become relics, unless an adequate substitute for gasoline 
is produced and sold for a reasonable price. Large users 
of such necessary by-products as lubricating oils will 
find themselves confronted by a distinctly serious 
situation. 

Coal Production Is Wasteful 

Conditions attending the development of the coal re- 
sources of Kentucky are strictly comparable to those 
found elsewhere in the recently exploited coal fields of 
the United States, and will serve as an interesting 
example of our lawless prodigality. In the eastern and 
western coal fields of Kentucky there is much being done 
in the way of attempted coal production that honestly 
invites the most severe criticism. While it is true that 
most of the larger companies have operated their proper- 
ties from the start along the lines of the best engineering 
practice, it is known that hundreds have gone about the 
production of coal with little or no mining system at all. 

In many cases owners of small coal mines are entirely 
inexperienced in the coal producing business prior to 



20 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

starting their new mining operations. In response to the 
unusual demand for the product, properties have 'been 
acquired and the new so-called operators have proceeded 
to produce coal from these new properties. The result 
has always been a long succession of mistakes and 
failures, since such operations are largely an experi- 
ment at every step. This deplorable condition of affairs 
has been particularly true of the small "one-horse" 
mines, and the wagon mines ; but many instances of much 
larger operations could be cited in both the eastern and 
western coal fields. Fallen-in entries, tumbled-down 
tipples, and brush covered railroad spurs are the common 
ear marks of the present day failure of this kind of 
coal mining. 

The ultimate results of such mining methods are 
obvious upon casual inspection. The experienced operator 
using systematic methods calls it ' ' ground-hogging ' ' coal ; 
but no term of derision is strong enough to adequately 
describe the practice. Without method or principle, the 
would-be operator removes that coal which is most easily 
obtained. He runs his entries in all directions, and 
generally has no mine map to show what amount of coal 
he has moved and what remains to be operated. His 
rooms are of all sizes, shapes, and descriptions, generally 
untimbered, with slate and coal "gobbed" at the right 
or the left, as has suited best his present convenience. 
Mine water has been given little if any attention, and not 
infrequently whole rooms are drowned out and abandoned 
long before they are completely mined. In the end this 
kind of coal mining leaves not infrequently 50 to 75 per 
cent of the coal in the ground as pillars, walls, partly cut, 
drowned out and unmined units. 



The Age of Waste 



21 



When lie has brought his property into this state of 
chaos, the untrained operator generally abandons it, and 
turns to virgin properties for a repetition of the same 
performance. The coal remaining in such abandoned 
properties generally is, or will be within a few years, 
beyond recovery. Due to the softening effects of mine 
water, roofs will have fallen in, pillars will have collapsed, 
and other conditions developed which will make the 
future operation on any such property not only extremely 




IGNORANCE RESULTING IN LOSS 

This well which is located in Clay County was an excellent gasser. It 
was left without proper -casing and tubing. Salt water softened a shale 
at some depth and it caved in, ruining the hole and shutting off the gas. 

hazardous and expensive, but quite impossible from a 
commercial standpoint. Instead of mining practically 
all of his coal as engineering methods allow, he has left 
a very large percentage in the ground. This portion, 
whatever it amounts to, has been lost to the world for all 
time. It has been deliberately wasted ! 



22 Natural Gas of Kentucky 



Ignorance Produces Oil Losses 

In Kentucky's oil fields, the same kind of wasteful 
operator may be found at every hand. With nothing 
better to do, he organizes an oil company and starts to 
drill wells without any idea as to the geological or drilling 
problems which he must encounter. He is almost certain 
to drill through the oil sands "by mistake/ ' allowing the 
oil in many cases to drain away into porous strata below, 
or the salt water of underlying strata to find its way up 
into the oil sand. 

Any of these practices operate to bring ruin on the 
property. If continued over a number of adjoining 
productive leases they will endanger the life and pro- 
ductivity of the field by dissipating the oil in the sand. 
In the terms of the driller, such practices bring about a 
"drowning out" of the petroleum. The inexperienced 
operator, if he strikes gusher oil, is generally not pre- 
pared to save it, and in any event will lose much at the 
casinghead. Not infrequently he will tank it in an open 
tank for several months or years, while he is making a 
shift to get a pipe-line connection, and occasionally loses 
it by fire or other disaster before he can run it into a line. 

If the first well is a small producer, he will frequently 
abandon it, as he thinks temporarily. In the meantime 
water will take possession of it and ruin its productive 
qualities. If he has developed gas in small quantities 
with his oil, he will let the well blow open, thinking that 
by reducing the rock pressure of his gas he will increase 
at the same time the flow of the oil. He very seldom 
obtains the selfish results desired, however, but does 
generally succeed in disrupting the proper relationship 
of gas and oil reserves of his own lease. His practices 
also tend to work havoc with the properties of adjoining 



The Age of Waste 23 



leases, and frequently the entire field. Instead of setting 
up such forces in the oil "sand" as might result in an 
increased accumulation of commercial petroleum, he 
not infrequently develops a greater tendency toward 
petroleum dissemination. This ultimately results in mak- 
ing the field less commercial and less productive than at 
the time the well was drilled in. When it is taken into 
consideration that between 50 per cent and 80 per cent 
of all the oil originally in the "sand" will remain in the 
ground after present producing methods have been 
exhausted, the total loss, including that induced by 
ignorance and folly, is very great indeed. 

Irregularity of pumping any group of wells in an oil 
field will induce the pasting up of the oil sands with 
natural waxes to such an extent that wells so attended 
will naturally fall off gradually in their production. In 
abandoning his property, if it is not a large producer, 
many an operator has pulled the casing and failed to 
plug the water and oil sands. The result of this unlawful 
practice, as might be cited in some of the Knox County, 
Kentucky, fields, has been to fill the oil sands with water. 
The oil which these sands contained is slowly but surely 
driven out of commercial pools under the water pressure, 
and widely disseminated through new and unknown 
regions adjacent. Wherever this oil spoliation has taken 
place the present generation may be accused of a wanton 
mineral resource waste, the great value of which it is 
quite as impossible to estimate as it is to recover. 

Natural Gas Waste Statewide 

The natural gas fields of Kentucky are well acquainted 
with the reckless operator. In this State hundreds of 
excellent gas wells have been drilled in eastern, western 



24 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



and southern Kentucky, and have been allowed to return 
unused their priceless treasure to the atmosphere. 
Notable examples of this practice, which it is true in 
recent years has been somewhat corrected, occur in the 




A GASSER CORRECTLY CLOSED IN 

Although the drilling rig is still at this location, the driller has already 
got his well "closed in" and is saving the gas. 



Floyd, Johnson, Barren, Green, Taylor, and Grayson 
County gas fields. Some eastern Kentucky wells have 



The Age of Waste 25 

been allowed in the recent past to blow open for years, 
and the guilty parties who have perpetrated an irrepar- 
able wrong not only against the field, but against the 
consuming public, have gone unreprimanded. 

The public in general has been slow to realize that 
natural gas exists, like all other material things, in a 
perfectly definite though largely an unknown quantity. 
All natural gas pools contain, could we but figure it, a cer- 
tain number of cubic feet of gas, and no more. When 
this amount of gas is used up or otherwise dissipated, it 
can never be replenished. It is a mistaken conception, 
but a common one, that natural gas fields will "come 
back/ 7 if they are not drawn upon for a while. Nothing 
could be more fallacious. Natural gas fields, coal fields, 
oil fields, and all mineral resources to which we may turn 
our hand in a time of need, exist in a certain amount, 
which can never be increased. We may use them care- 
fully, like the thrifty housewife, and extend their period 
of productivity over a relatively long time; or we may 
squander them recklessly, priceless as they are, much like 
the sailor in port. If we do the latter, we will find to our 
sorrow as a people that what we once thought was an 
unlimited mineral resource birthright, was in fact a very 
limited resource, quite susceptible of exhaustion by our 
modern methods of exploitation. 



CHAPTER II 

NATURAL GAS RESOURCES 
OF KENTUCKY 

The commercial production of natural gas in the 
State of Kentucky dates back to the year 1863, when the 
old Moreman well near Brandenburg in Meade County, 
Kentucky, was drilled. It was utilized in the manu- 
facture of salt from brines which were found associated 
with the gas in this and other wells in the Brandenburg 
district. For a number of years this Ohio River field was 
the only one of much importance in the State, but with 
the discovery of natural gas in large amounts in Ohio 
and West Virginia in the middle 80 's, increased activity 
at once set in, which resulted in the laying of an 8-inch 
transmission line from the Brandenburg field to Louis- 
ville. The metropolis of Kentucky, situated 30 miles to 
the northeast of this gas field, thus became the first large 
consumer, and the Kentucky Rock Gas Company, later 
the Kentucky Heating and Lighting Company, which 
supplied the naturalgas, became the first public utilities 
corporation giving natural gas service. 

The development of the natural gas resources of Ken- 
tucky has been one of gradual rather than rapid increase. 
At least six rather distinctive periods may be noted in 
the growth of this industry. These are as follows : 

(1) (1750-1872) Period of no commercial develop- 
ment. From the time of early explorations in Kentucky 
up to and including the drilling in of the Moreman 
property, natural gas was known, its inflammable quali- 



Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 



27 



ties were recognized, but it lacked commercialization. 
(2) (1873-1892) Period of early commercialization of 
natural gas. Meade and Breckinridge County gas fields 
chief source of supply. (3) (1893-1905) Period of wide- 
spread exploration. Development of large gas production 
in Martin County. Discovery of the Menifee County 
field. Initial declines of Meade and Breckinridge Coun- 










GAS PIPE LINE CONSTRUCTION IN TIMBER 

Before gas mains can be laid in the mountain region of Eastern Ken- 
tucky, timber-cutting crews must follow the line surveyed and clear away 
all trees and underbrush. 



ties. (4) (1906-1912) Period of eastern Kentucky 
natural gas exploitation. Drilling up of the Martin 
County field. Development of the Menifee County field ; 
gradual depletion of Meade and Breckinridge County 
fields to very small figure. (5) (1913-1917) Period of 



28 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



importation from West Virginia and Ohio. Martin 
County becomes the chief developed source of Kentucky 
natural gas. Meade and Menifee Counties practically 
abandoned. (6) (1918-1921) Period of intensive develop- 
ment throughout Kentucky. Martin County still a small 
gas producer. Johnson, Breathitt, Floyd, and other 
counties become large producers of natural gas in 
Kentucky. 







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A STANDARD DRILLING RIG 

This gas well is located on the Kentucky side of the Tug Fork of the 
Big Sandy River in Martin County near Kermit, W. Va. Standard der- 
ricks are used in drilling for the deeper gas "sands." 



Up to and including the year 1890, Meade County was 
the only natural gas producing field of much importance 
in the State, and continued so until the opening of the 
Martin County field in 1893. The gas production from 
Martin County was not utilized, however, to any extent 



Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 



29 



until the laying of the United Fuel Gas Company's main 
transmission line up the Big Sandy Valley in 1905. 
Martin County increased its production rapidly until 
1915, and from that date has decreased quite as steadily. 




A TAYLOR COUNTY GASSER 

The Green-Taylor County gas field northwest of Campbellsville is a 
large field of low rock pressure. The gas "sand" is a limestone. 



The Menifee County field was drilled up on an extensive 
scale in 1904, and was of considerable importance until 
about 1913, when depletion set in very rapidly. With 



30 Natural Gas of Kentucky 



the depletion in the Meade, Martin and Menifee County 
fields a certainty, public utilities corporations in Ken- 
tucky were forced to make increasingly large importa- 
tions of natural gas from West Virginia and Ohio. 

It became apparent in 1917 and 1918 that the supply- 
ing limit of the Columbia Gas and Electric Company of 
West Virginia through the Kermit Station had been 
reached. Following leads established by a large number 
of indexing gas wells in Eastern Kentucky, an intensive 
drilling campaign was instituted in Johnson, Magoffin, 
Floyd, Breathitt and Knott Counties which has resulted 
in the development during the last four years of several 
gas fields of recognized importance in Eastern Kentucky. 
The chief of these from a standpoint of present com- 
mercial value is the Beaver Creek field in Floyd County. 
Close seconds are the Ivyton, Win, Red Bush, Flat Gap, 
and Frozen Creek gas fields in the eastern part of the 
State. During this same period, widespread drilling by 
petroleum ' ' wildcatters ' ' has resulted in the discovery of 
a large number of more or less isolated gas wells and gas 
fields in various portions of the State. One of the largest 
and most important of the several natural gas fields thus 
found is that which has been outlined in Green and Tay- 
lor Counties in central Kentucky. 

In the year 1921 commercial production of natural 
gas in Kentucky amounted to approximately 4,742,000 M 
cubic feet, valued to the consumer at $1,360,340.00. The 
consumption of natural gas in the State in the year 1918, 
the latest for which figures are available, amounted to 
12,200,190 M cubic feet, valued to the consumer at 
$3,093,393.00, and was about 300 per cent greater than 
the production. The total volume of natural gas con- 
sumed in Kentucky in 1921 was without doubt much 
greater than this amount. With an annual consumption 



Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 



31 



in Kentucky of such large amounts of natural gas, and a 
rapidly growing list of domestic consumers, which in 
1918 totaled 90,849, an understanding of the natural 
gas reserves of this State becomes one of very great 
importance. A detailed consideration of the thirty-one 
separate gas fields of Kentucky, (1) developed and 
depleted; (2) partially developed and producing; and 
(3) indexed by discovery wells, but not commercialized, 
is given herewith : 



KENTUCKY NATURAL GAS POOLS. 
I. 

1. Cloverport, Breckinridge Co 

2. Diamond Springs, Logan Co 

3. Martin Co I Gas pools of yester- 

4. Meade Co f day, old or aban- 

5. Menifee Co I doned. 

6. Monticello, Wayne Co j 



1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 



II. 

Barbourville, Knox Co 

Beaver Creek, Floyd Co 

Central City, Muhlenberg Co 

Elk Fork, Morgan Co 

Flat Gap, Johnson Co 

Frozen Creek, Breathitt Co 

Glasgow, Barren Co 

Green River, Green and Taylor Cos 

Ivyton, Magoffin Co 

Leitchneld, Grayson Co 

Prestonsburg, Floyd Co 

Redbush, Johnson Co 

Williamsburg, Whitley Co 

W T inn, Johnson Co 



III. 



1. Hiseville, Barren Co 

2. Island Creek, Owsley Co 

3. Meredith, Grayson Co 

4. Mize, Morgan Co 

5. Newcombe Creek, Elliott Co 

6. Oneida, Clay Co 

7. Penrod, Muhlenberg Co 

8. Sparta, Gallatin Co 

9. Rock Fork, Knott Co 

10. Sexton Creek, Clay Co 

11. Temple Hill, Barren Co 



Gas pools of 
production 
Kentucky 
and cities. 



to-day , 

used in 

towns 



Gas pools of to- 
morrow — probably 
of commercial im- 
portance, but size 
undetermined. Un- 
connected by pipe 
lines. 



32 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 




i.> — "jo 

|o o- Z =j£ 



Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 33 

Frozen Creek Gas Field — (1) 

Geography — This field is located in north-central 
Breathitt, near the "Wolfe County line. The nearest town 
is Taulbee. The wells are drilled along Negro, Sulphur, 
and Clear Creeks, all branches of Frozen Creek. 

Geology — The natural gas found here occurs in the 
upper part of a small dome, the axis of which runs about 
20 degrees north of east, and with its approximate crest 
about one mile up Negro Fork of Frozen Creek. Produc- 
tion is secured in the Corniferous (Devonian) limestone 
at about 1,800 feet. Structural maps of Breathitt County 
showing this dome have been published by the Kentucky 
Geological Survey. 

History — The first well was drilled in the field by the 
Big Six Oil Company in September, 1918. Its open flow 
was 3,500,000 cubic feet, and its rock pressure 525 pounds. 
A second well was drilled in November. During the 
following year two more wells were drilled, and efforts 
made to market the gas. In June, 1920, a contract was 
made with the Central Kentucky Natural Gas Company, 
and preparations to connect with the main line of this 
company were begun. 

By the winter of 1920-1921 a 10-inch line was com- 
pleted, and deliveries of gas started. By that time ten 
wells had been drilled, of which five were dry holes. The 
total open flow developed was 18,000,000 cubic feet, and 
the average rock pressure about 525 pounds. The 
largest well came in at 7,875,000 cubic feet, and the 
smallest at 300,000 cubic feet. The eastern and southern 
edges of the producing area have been defined. No data 
on deliveries to date is available. 



34 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



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1J/7D -JO CW/77/W - M07J A/JJ0 




Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 35 

Beaver Creek Gas Field — (2) 

Geography — The Beaver Creek Gas Field is located 
in Floyd County. Beaver Creek, a tributary of the Big 
Sandy River, flows through it and gives it its name. 
Maytown, on a branch line of the C. & 0. R. R., is located 
in the heart of the pool. The wells are drilled along 
Right Fork of Beaver Creek from Maytown south to the 
mouth of Goose Creek, and along Henry's Branch and 
Wilson, Turkey, and Goose Creeks and their tributaries. 

Geology — The principal structural feature of this 
region is a rather pronounced anticline. Gas has accumu- 
lated on the small terraces and domes forming a part of 
this structure. 

Production has been secured from the Salt (Pennsyl- 
vanian), Maxon, Bradley, and Berea (Mississippian) r 
and Corniferous (Devonian) "Sands, " which occur at 
about 600, 900, 1,100, 2,000, and 2,500 feet respectively. 
The greater part of the gas is secured from the Maxon 
in the northern and central parts of the field, and from 
the Bradley in the southern. 

All of the gas producing horizons are lenticular. 
Wells drilled 1,500 feet ap>art show wide differences in 
thickness, and porosity of the sands. In fact, one 2,000- 
foot well drilled only 800 feet from a good well in the 
Berea sand, showed not a trace of Berea. Drilling results 
are very erratic, and costs are correspondingly high. 

History — The first well in the Beaver Creek region 
was drilled at the mouth of Salt Lick Creek in 1891. It 
produced oil. The first gas well drilled in this field began 
in 1895, and a half dozen wells were put down in scattered 
locations in the next decade. In 1918 several companies 
were formed to develop the field, and drilling began in 
earnest. By the end of that year a total open flow, old 
and new, of about 20,000,000 cubic feet had been 



36 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

developed. During 1919 other wells were drilled, and 
during 1920 and 1921 an active drilling campaign has 
been waged. 

Most of the wells are in the Maxon Sand. The largest 
well in this sand of which authentic data is available had 
an original open flow of 3,600,000 cubic feet. The 
original rock pressure of this sand was about 250 pounds. 
Good producers are still being drilled into this sand, but 
their decline is very rapid, and salt water has appeared 
in several parts of the field. 

A few wells in widely separated parts of the field 
secured production in the Berea. The size of the wells 
in this sand range from 250,000 to 3,000,000 cubic feet, 
and their original rock pressure was 535 pounds. 

Recently several large wells have been secured in the 
southern part of the field in the Bradley Sand, one hav- 
ing an open flow of 12,000,000 cubic feet, and others 
having more than 5,000,000 cubic feet. This area, how- 
ever, is comparatively small, being already practically 
outlined by dry holes. 

Production from the Salt sand is not regarded as 
of commercial importance because of the rapid encroach- 
ment of saltwater. 

Due to the fact that the natural gas development of 
this field has been and still is in the hands of several 
different companies which has allowed only a portion of 
the available open flow to be drawn on, reliable estimates 
of the gas reserves of this field have been difficult to make. 
The results obtained from some of the wells as given 
hereafter show the field to be spotted, though capable of 
affording a large supply of natural gas from many wells 
of medium size and a few wells of rather large capacity. 

In 1918 a carbon black plant was erected near May- 
town, and began using gas in June. Wells having an 



Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 37 



open flow of 7,000,000 cubic feet were connected, and 
delivered 1,500,000 to 2,500,000 cubic feet per day, but 
declined in delivery so rapidly that one and two rigs had 
to be kept drilling continuously. By August, 1920, wells 
having an original open flow of 10,000,000 cubic feet had 
been connected, but could only deliver 1,250,000 to 
1,750,000 cubic feet per day, while the rock pressure of 
most of the wells in the Maxon had declined from 250 to 
150 pounds, a fall of 40 per cent in rock pressure, and 
60 per cent in proportionate deliveries. By the spring 
of 1921 these wells were furnishing less than 1,000,000 
cubic feet per day, with 1 pound at the carbon plant. 

In 1920 a compressor station was erected at Maytown 
by the Pennagrade Oil & Gas Co., and a line built con- 
necting the field with the main line of the Kentucky Pipe 
Line Company at Sitka. Four wells in the Maxon with 
an open flow of 7,500,000 cubic feet and an average rock 
pressure of 240 pounds, and one well in the Bradley with 
an open flow of 2,375,000 cubic feet and a rock pressure 
of 372 pounds were connected in December, and deliveries 
began. Maximum daily deliveries were 1,750,000 cubic 
feet per day for a few weeks. By April, 1921, deliveries 
had decreased to 875,000 cubic feet or 50 per cent of the 
original. The open flow of the Maxon wells had decreased 
62 per cent to 2,890,000 cubic feet and their rock pressure 
46 per cent to 130 pounds. The Bradley Sand well had 
fallen off 89 per cent to 260,000 cubic feet, and its rock 
pressure 76 per cent to 90 pounds. In May, 1921, this 
well was flooded out by salt water, and after being 
properly plugged was abandoned. 

A second carbon plant was erected in 1920 in the 
southern part of the field, and placed in operation in 
November. The plant has a capacity of 3,000,000 cubic 



38 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



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Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 39 

feet of gas daily. This plant has connected to it most of 
the wells in its portion of the field, and though not at the 
present running to full capacity, could rapidly exhaust 
what appears to be a most promising part of the field. 

Martin County Gas Field — (3) 

Geography — This field is located in east-central Mar- 
tin County on the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River. 
Geologically it stretches over into West Virginia. War- 
field, Ky., and Kermit, W. Va., are approximately in the 
center of the gas-bearing area. The latter town is on the 
N. & W. R. R. 

Geology — The structure here is anticlinal and the 
gas is found on a dome about eight miles long and four 
miles wide. Commercial production is secured from the 
Salt (Pennsylvanian), Maxon, and Big Lime (Mississip- 
pian) " Sands." A few Big Injun and Berea (Mississip- 
pian) wells also produced marketable amounts of gas. 
The Corniferous (Devonian) here is gas bearing, but 
there is so much hydrogen sulphide in the gas from this 
strata that it is not used. Drilling depths are from 750 
to 1,500 feet. The surface rocks are Pottsville (Pennsyl- 
vanian) sandstones, shales, and coals. 

History — The first well was drilled in 1881. It was 
allowed to waste into the atmosphere for ten years, after 
which it was used by a carbon black plant until 1901, 
when a pipe line was built from the field supplying 
Ashland, Catlettsburg, Ironton, and Huntington. Wells 
then making gas were connected up, and an active drilling 
campaign began. 

By 1907, 33 wells had been drilled, and an open flow 
of 48,250,000 cubic feet had been developed. The size of 
the wells ranged from 500,000 to 2,500,000, and the 
original rock pressures were 280, 470 and 565 pounds 



40 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

respectively for the Salt (Pennsylvanian), Maxon and 
Big Lime (Mississippian) " Sands." 

Active drilling continued. In 1912 a pipe line was 
laid to supply several towns in Central Kentucky, in- 
cluding those formerly supplied by the Menifee County 
field. The following year a line was laid to Louisville, 
and a 2,200 H. P. compressor station was built at Kermit. 
Deliveries to Louisville began in February, 1914. The 
year 1914 marked the peak of the production from the 
Martin County field. By this time 92 wells had been 
drilled, and the open flow reached 90,000,000 cubic feet. 
Maximum deliveries were 18,000,000 cubic feet per day. 

From this time to the present deliveries have de- 
creased rapidly. The gas producing area was completely 
defined, and of 46 wells drilled in the next four years by 
one company, 21 were dry. In spite of the fact that the 
wells in the upper sands were drilled to the lower produc- 
ing horizons, the average rock pressure fell steadily. By 
1917 it was necessary to rebuild two of the compressors 
at Kermit, so that they could take the gas at a lower 
suction. 

In 1918 several wells became completely exhausted 
and had to be abandoned. Although there were then 
connected 124 wells which had shown original open flow 
totaling 153,000,000 cubic feet, the combined open flow 
at that time was only 40,000,000 cubic feet, and the 
average rock pressure had declined to 150 pounds. 

Since depletion set in, pipe lines have been laid to 
other fields in West Virginia to supply the Kermit 
Station. The flow and rock pressure of the Martin 
County field has, however, continued to decline. The field 
is now regarded as practically exhausted, and is only 
supplying about 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 cubic feet 
per day. 



Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 41 

Red Bush Gas Field — (4) and 
Flat Gap Gas Field — (5) 

Geography — These fields are twins located in the 
northwestern corner of Johnson County and extending 
over into Lawrence County. Flat Gap Post Office is on the 
southeastern edge of the field and Red Bush Post Office 
on the southwestern flank. The field is crossed by Laurel 
Creek. The main lines of the Kentucky Pipe Line Co. 
and the Central Kentucky Natural Gas Co. run about 
six miles south of the center of the producing area. 

Geology — The structure is a broad dome. Drilling 
results have been such as to indicate that the contours on 
the gas sand are not conformable with those on the out- 
cropping strata, and that the gas area may be smaller 
than was formerly figured. Production is secured from 
the Weir and the Berea (Mississippian) but principally 
from the latter ' 'sand. ' ' The Weir occurs at 575 feet and 
the Berea at about 700 feet below the surface. The sur- 
face rocks are Pottsville (Pennsylvanian) sandstones, 
shales, and coals. 

History — The first well was put down in this field in 
the fall of 1917. It had an open flow of 500,000 cubic 
feet, and a rock pressure of 230 pounds. By the summer 
of 1918 four gas wells had been drilled and a total open 
flow of 2,250,000 cubic feet developed. The largest well 
made 900,000 cubic feet, and the smallest 300,000 cubic 
feet, and the rock pressure averaged 235 pounds. 

In July, 1918, a contract was made for the sale of this 
gas, and a line was laid connecting the field with the 
main line of the Central Kentucky Natural Gas Co. 
Deliveries were begun in December, 1918. This field is 
still putting gas into the main lines. The acreage is in 



42 



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Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 43 



the hands of several different companies who have been 
unable to unite their interests. Development of the gas 
has been slow. Maximum deliveries have never been 
more than 1,250,000 cubic feet per day. Minimum 
deliveries much less. 

Elk Fork Gas Field — (6) 

Geography — This field is located in central Morgan 
County, and extends westward about two miles from the 
Licking River at West Liberty to Caney Creek. 

Geology — The structure here is anticlinal with the 
gas apparently gathered about the crest of a small dome. 
The gas production comes from the Clinton (Silurian) 
"sand" which is reached at 1,500 feet. The surface rocks 
are Pottsville (Pennsylvanian), sandstones, shales, and 
coals. 

History — The wells of this field were originally 
drilled in search for oil, and the gas production so far 
developed has been incidental to oil operations. To date 
about 15 wells have been drilled, five of which made gas 
in excess of 100,000 cubic feet per day. Two of these 
made 500,000 cubic feet each. The rock pressure averages 
425 pounds. 

These wells were connected to West Liberty five years 
ago. Although the population of this town is only 500, 
the company owning the wells has difficulty in maintain- 
ing the supply during the w 7 inter. While the field has 
not yet been completely drilled, it is evident that it will 
never be a producer of large commercial importance. 

Win Gas Field— (7) 

Geography — This field is located on Mine Fork of 
Paint Creek on the Magoffin and Johnson County lines, 



44 Natural Gas of Kentucky 



about four and one-half miles from the main pipe lines of 
the Kentucky Pipe Line, and the Central Kentucky 
Natural Gas Companies. 

Geology — Production is secured on the top of the 
Mine Fork (Paint Creek) dome just south of the Paint 
Creek Fault. The producing area covers about three 
square miles. The gas sand is the Weir (Mississippian), 
900 to 1,100 feet below the surface. The surface rocks are 
Pottsville (Pennsylvanian) sandstones, shales, and coals. 

History — The first well was put down in this field in 
June, 1918, by the Bed Rock Oil Company. In the fall 
of that year a 250 H. P. compressor station was installed 
and the field connected with the Central Kentucky 
Natural Gas Company's pipe line. In the fall of 1919 
a 450 H. P. compressor station was built by the Louisville 
Gas & Electric Co. and a second line built connecting the 
field with the pipe line to Louisville. 

A total of 35 wells, of which 30 were producers, had 
been drilled in this field up to the end of 1920. The 
largest well had an open flow of 2,000,000 cubic feet and 
the smallest 425,000 cubic feet, and the original rock 
pressure of the wells ran from 285 to 290 pounds. The 
open flow of the first twenty wells drilled averaged 
850,000 cubic feet. The producing area appears to be 
defined, but there are about 12 to fifteen locations remain- 
ing, some of which will be drilled by the end of 1921. 

The total open flow of the Win Gas Field reached 
18,000,000 cubic feet in January, 1920, at which time the 
maximum deliveries were 5,000,000 cubic feet per day. 
This was from 20 wells. Within three months, deliveries 
showed an appreciable decline and, although additional 
wells have been drilled and connected up, the total 
dropped steadily, until the field now averages 1,500,000 
cubic feet per day. The present open flow is approxi- 



Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 45 

mately 6,500,000 cubic feet, and the rock pressure 135 
pounds. A total of about 2,000,000,000 cubic feet has 
been taken from the field to date. 

Mize Gas Field— (8) 

Geography — This small field is located near Mize Post 
Office in the southwestern part of Morgan County, Ky. 

Geology — The gas appears here to be on a small 
dome, only a few acres in extent. The Corniferous 
(Devonian) is the gas "sand" and is found from 1,250 
to 1,300 feet below the surface. The rocks exposed at the 
surface are Pottsville (Pennsylvanian) sandstones, shales, 
and coals. 

History — The first well in this field was put down in 
1917 as a test for oil. It came in at 800,000 cubic feet, 
and had a rock pressure of 272 pounds per square inch. 
By June, 1918, three producers and two dry holes had 
been drilled. The total open flow developed was 2,800,000 
cubic feet, and the average rock pressure 270 pounds. 
The largest well showed 1,500,000 cubic feet, and the 
smallest 400,000 cubic feet. 

Shortly after its completion the first well was con- 
nected to the drilling on the lease, and although only a 
few thousand feet of gas was used a month, it was 
drowned out by salt water in two years. Results obtained 
in drilling this field show it to be so small in extent as to 
be of only local value. 

Ivyton Gas Field — (9) 

Geography — This field is located in central-eastern 
Magoffin County, with its eastern edge almost against the 
county line. Ivyton, on the B. S. & K. R. R., is on the 
edge of the field. The wells are drilled along Burning 
Fork and its tributaries. 



46 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

Geology — The principal structure here is anticlinal, 
the gas area being located on a dome, the major axis of 
which runs about 30 degrees east of north, and the south- 
western end of which flattens slightly. Production is 
secured in the Weir sand (Mississippian). The pay 
streak averages about 15-25 feet in thickness, and drilling 
depths are 1,000 to 1,250 feet. One well in the field has 
been drilled 3,500 feet to the Upper Ordovician, but 
found no pay sands below the Mississippian series. The 
surface rocks are Pottsville (Pennsylvanian) sandstones, 
shales, and coals. 

History — The first well was drilled in this field in 
1919 by the Bed Rock Oil Co., in prospecting for oil. 
During 1920 five more gas wells were drilled, and at the 
end of this year an open flow of 11,000,000 cubic feet had 
been developed. In the early part of 1921 a 6-inch pipe 
line was laid from the field to Win, connecting with the 
line of the Kentucky Pipe Line Co., and in March 
deliveries were begun to Louisville. 

By September, 1921, about 25 gas wells had been 
drilled, and a total open flow of 25,000,000 cubic feet 
developed. The largest well showed 2,750,000 cubic feet, 
and the smallest 175,000 cubic feet. The rock pressure 
averaged 385 pounds. The southern, eastern and western 
edges of the field have been defined by the drilling of 
several dry holes. The total productive area appears to 
be about 2,500 acres. To October 1, 1921, less than 
200,000,000 cubic feet have been taken from the field. 
For this reason, no reliable estimate of its probable life 
can be made, though it is to be regarded as a commercially 
important and very valuable natural gas field. 



Natural Gas Resources of Kextucky 47 



Menifee County Gas Field — (10) 

Geography — This field is located near Rothwell, in 
Menifee County, at the end of a branch line of the C. & 0. 
R. R. The field is 8y 2 miles long and 41/2 miles wide, and 
the total producing area covers 24 square miles. 

Geology — The structure here is monoclinal. The slope 
rises from the southeast to the northwest at an almost 
uniform rate of fifty feet to the mile, with only two 
slight synclinal basins to mar its symmetry. Production 
is secured from a porous streak 25 feet thick in the 
Corniferous (Devonian) limestone. Wells are from 400 
to 800 feet deep, averaging 500 feet. At the northwest 
end of the field the porous streak pinches out entirely. 
The southeastern and southern edges are saturated with 
salt water. The surface rocks are Pottsville (Pennsyl- 
vanian), and Chester (Mississippian) sandstones, shales 
and limestones. 

History — Gas was discovered in this field in March, 
1904, the first well showing 500,000 feet at 452 to 478 feet. 
The rock pressure was 79 pounds. The following year a 
company was formed to develop the field, and in 
February, 1906, a line was laid to Mt. Sterling, Win- 
chester, and Lexington, and a compressor station was 
built. 

By the middle of 1911, 115 wells had been drilled, of 
which 90 were gassers, and 25 dry holes. The largest 
well made 1,250,000 cubic feet, and the smallest 
250,000 cubic feet. The average original rock pressure 
was 75 pounds. Maximum deliveries never exceeded 
4,500,000 cubic feet. Early in 1912 the producing area 
was completely defined and drilled up, and with no new 
wells to be added, the deliveries began to drop rapidly. 



48 



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Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 49 



By June, 1912, the open flow had fallen to 25,000,000 
cubic feet, and the rock pressure to 60 pounds. Three 
wells had been drowned out by salt water, and the de- 
liveries were no longer sufficient to supply the towns 
connected. 

To meet this situation the West Virginia fields were 
connected, and since 1912 gas has only been taken from 
the Menifee field as an emergency relief in very cold 
weather. In 1920 the rock pressure was 25 pounds. 
Deliveries from the field practically ceased in 1918. In 
the summer of 1920 a trial was made of using the field 
as a storage field, but the results of the experiment are 
not known. 

Oneida Gas Field — (11) 

Geography — This field is located in northeastern Clay 
County near Oneida. The wells are drilled along Red 
Bird and Bullskin Creeks. 

Geology — The structure here is anticlinal, but not 
enough data has been gathered as yet to make it possible 
to determine the exact structural characteristics of the 
field. A comparison of surface structure and results of 
drilling to date suggests a lack of accordance between the 
gas "sand" figure and that seen in the coals above. The 
gas "sand" is the Corniferous (Devonian), and is found 
at about 1,600 feet below the surface. The surface rocks 
are Potts ville (Pennsylvanian) sandstones, shales, and 
coals. 

History — The first well was drilled in this field in 
the spring of 1920 as a test for oil. It made 2,250,000 
cubic feet of gas, and three other wells were then put 
down. By the end of 1920 these had been completed, and 
the total open flow was 11,000,000 cubic feet. The largest 



50 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

well had an open flow of 4,000,000 cubic feet, and the 
smallest 1,500,000. The original rock pressure of all the 
wells was 350 pounds. As no market for the gas was 
available, drilling operations were stopped. 

In May, 1921, Well No. 1 had an open flow volume of 
1,350,000 cubic feet, and a rock pressure of 310 pounds; 
No. 3 had an open flow of 780,000 cubic feet, and a rock 
pressure of 270 pounds. Well No. 4 had a volume of 
475,000 cubic feet, and a rock pressure of 300 pounds. 
Well No. 2, originally quite as good as No. 1, caved in, 
due to inadequate casing, and was ruined. A number of 
wells have been drilled in the neighboring vicinity, all 
of which were unproductive. The field is evidently not a 
large one, though certainly one of value. 

Williamsburg Gas Field — (12) 

Geography — This field is located at Williamsburg, 
Ky., in the center of Whitley County, a town of 2,000 
inhabitants. It is reached by the main line of the L. & N. 
R. R. The Cumberland River bisects the town. 

Geology — The structure here is a doming anticline, 
located nearly in the basin of the Eastern Kentucky Geo- 
Syncline. Pottsville (Pennsylvanian), Maxon, Big Lime, 
and Big Injun (Mississippian) "sands" are productive 
of natural gas. The surface rocks are Pottsville 
(Pennsylvanian) sandstones, shales, and coals. 

History — The first wells drilled in this section were 
drilled in 1902, and produced oil and gas from the 
shallow sand, the producing depths being from 300 to 
500 and from 700 to 800 feet. These sands, it would 
seem, correspond to the upper sands in the Knox County 
fields, viz : Wages, Jones, and Epperson. 



Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 51 

In a recent drilling campaign, the Iroquois Oil & Gas 
Company tried to make some of these shallow wells into 
producers. Finding that this was not possible, they 
decided to drill the Adkins well deeper. It was finished 
at a depth of 1,381 feet and produced gas from two 
separate horizons. The top of the first sand was 
encountered at 1,155 feet and produced gas in this same 
streak to the depth of 1,180. The next gas was found at 
1,365 to 1,370 feet. This well was gauged and found to 
be making 2,700,000 cubic feet, and had a rock pressure 
of 220 pounds. 

The pay "sands" correspond somewhat to the 
"sands" of Floyd County. The Big Lime is not 
encountered until after the bit has passed through these 
upper gas pays. The Big Lime is found to be from 350 
to 380 feet thick in this section. Gas production in one 
well at a depth of 1,515 feet is possibly from Big Injun 
sand. 

PRODUCTION. 

5fo aP Name °P- Fl0W Pressure 

1 Adkins No. 1 2,700,000 220 lbs. 

2 J. Rose No. 1 2,800,000 220 lbs. 

3 E. G. Moss No. 1 1,900,000 180 lbs. 

'4 E. G. Moss No. 2 400,000 

5 Electric Light Plant 2,900,000 180 lbs. 

6 C.W.Rains 500,000 

This gas at the present is being piped to Williamsburg 
for domestic purposes. 



52 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

Green River Gas Field — (13) 

Geography — This field is located partly in Green and 
partly in Taylor County. The producing area extends 
from Greensburg northeastward almost to Campbells- 
ville, and from Salome south to Ebenezer. The Green 
River passes through the field, and the Campbellsville 
branch of the L. & N. R. R. crosses it in a northeasterly 
and southwesterly direction. 

Geology — A long anticlinal ridge comes into the field 
at the northeast and runs southwest until it flattens out 
in the big Kentucky geo-syncline which passes through 
the southern part of Green and Taylor Counties. Three 
smaller folds cross the main ridge almost at right angles. 
Most of the gas is found on the three domes formed by 
the intrusion of these cross folds. Gas is also found in 
the area along the main anticline between the domes, but 
in a smaller quantity. The gas " sands " are the Cornif- 
erous (Devonian) and the Saluda (Ordovician) lime- 
stones, here taken together about 40 feet thick, with 25 
feet of pay sand. Drilling depths are from 400 to 600 
feet. The surface rocks are limestones (St. Louis age) of 
the middle and lower Mississippian system. 

History — The first gas wells in the field were drilled 
some years ago, when an effort was being made to extend 
the limits of a small oil pool found near Greensburg. 
Drilling was desultory until 1919, when the Green River 
Gas Company purchased most of the wells, and laid plans 
to market it. The following year connections were made 
to the towns of Greensburg and Campbellsville, three 
wells being used for this purpose. 

To date about 25 wells have been drilled, and an open 
flow of about 28,000,000 cubic feet developed. The size 
of the wells ranges from 225,000 cubic feet to 3,500,000 



Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 53 

cubic feet. The rock pressure averages 39 pounds. Not 
enough gas has been taken from the field to make it 
possible to estimate its depletion curve. 

Meade County Gas Field — (14) 

Geography — This field is located in the extreme north- 
eastern corner of Meade County, along the L. H. & St. L. 
Railroad from Bartles to Long Branch, 35 miles south- 
west of Louisville. The best gas area at Long Branch is 
along the bank of the Ohio River and at Bartles is im- 
mediately adjacent to the town. 

Geology — Production comes from two small domes on 
two roughly parallel cross folds running northeast from 
the Dry Ridge anticline which crosses the northern part 
of the county. The crests of these domes are near Long 
Branch and Bartles respectively. The gas "sand" is a 
15-foot lens in the black Chattanooga shale (Devonian), 
and is about seven feet below the top of the shale. The 
black shale lies at 300 to 400 feet under the surface. A 
peculiarity of this field is that salt water appeared in all 
the wells, either at the time of drilling or very shortly 
thereafter. Some have been pumped for 35 years to keep 
them from sealing. The surface rocks are limestone of 
the middle and lower Mississippian system. 

History — The first well in this field was drilled in 
1858, and from that time to 1888 several wells were put 
down, and were used in making salt from the brine found 
in them. Commercial development began in 1888, at 
which time a company was formed to pipe the gas to 
Louisville. A line was completed in 1890. 

The largest well in the Meade County field came in at 
2,000,000 cubic feet, with a rock pressure of 51 pounds. 
The highest initial rock pressure recorded was 64 pounds 



54 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



pock Pressure CntfZT 



\ 



INDIANA 




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\ 



COMPRESSORS, 



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50 ^ 
30 fc 



<^f7y /2#/^ C/1jQ#T 



KENTUCKY 



Scale: 



mile 



LOCATION 

OF 

MEADE COUNTY 
GAS FIELD 



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LOCATION, AND DECLINE CURVES OF MEADE COUNTY 
GAS FIELD (KENTUCKY-INDIANA) 



Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 55 

for a well near Bartles, and the lowest 22 pounds for one 
in the same portion of the field. The average rock pres- 
sure was 50 pounds, and the average open flow about 
500,000 cubic feet. Altogether about 100 wells w r ere 
drilled by 1890. The producing area at Long Branch 
was completely outlined by non-productive wells, and 
that at Bartles fairly well drilled up. In 1890 the 30 best 
wells were connected to the pipe line. These wells when 
tested individually gave a total open flow of 10,000,000 
cubic feet, and when all were flowing into the line the 
maximum deliveries were less than 2,000,000 cubic feet. 
Natural gas deliveries fell off rapidly, causing two 150 
H. P. compressors to be installed in 1891. New wells 
were then drilled and old ones cleaned out and connected 
to the line, and deliveries increased until in 1904 they 
averaged 1,000,000 cubic feet per day. This marked the 
peak production. From this time on the rock pressure 
declined rapidly, and the use of compressors was 
finally discontinued. 

Leitchfield Gas Field* — (15) 

Geography — The Leitchfield gas fiejd is located in the 
central portion of Grayson County in the immediate 
vicinity of the town of Leitchfield. The extent of the field 
has never been determined, but it is probably not a large 
field. The structural geology of the section indicates that 
it may be extended somewhat further to the east and to 
the west; 

Geology — The gas is secured in porous strata of 
St. Louis (Mississippian) limestone at a depth of from 
700 to 1,200 feet. The structure is a doming nipple on a 
great anticline, the major axis of which extends nearly 



* Geology of Oil and Gas in Gravson County, W. R. Jillson, Kentucky 
Geological Survey, Series VI, Vol. II, p. 183, 1921. 



56 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



east and west. The surface rocks are of the Chester 
Series (Upper Mississippian). 

History — The first producing gasser in this field, now 
known as the "Old Leitchfield Well/' was drilled about 
1890, near the town. It produced between 5,000 and 
10,000 cubic feet, and was subsequently abandoned. 
Several gas and artesian water wells have been drilled 
near Leitchfield. The best gasser of these is the Xerxes 
Hunter, No. 1, located on the northwest limits of the 





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AN OIL FIELD WASTE 

This is an aid oil well in Western Kentucky. It was abandoned and 
never plugged. It has "been producing (wasting) oil for ten or fifteen 
years. 

town. About 100,000 cubic feet of gas from this well is 
being used daily in Leitchfield. It is reported to have had 
an original open flow of between 3,000,000 and 4,000,000 
cubic feet. The W. S. Proctor is a commercial gasser, but 
its size is not known. 



Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 57 

Hiseville Gas Field — (16) 

Geography — This field is located in the northeastern 
portion of Barren County in the vicinity of Hiseville 
Post Office. The extent of the field is not definitely known, 
but it is not considered to be a large gas field. It is defined 
by several gas wells. The nearest main line railroad 
station is Cave City, which is located about 10 miles west. 

Geology — The natural gas is secured beneath the 
black Chattanooga shale (Devonian) in the underlying 
limestone, probably of Devonian and Ordovician age. 
Individual wells are reported to be producing an initial 
maximum of 1,000,000 cubic feet open flow. No surficial 
indications of important gas structure are recognized in 
this field, and for this reason the gas accumulation is 
regarded as a pocket or crevice source. The rock pressure 
is about 75 pounds. The St. Louis (Middle Mississippian) 
limestones are found at the surface. 

History — The first well in this field was drilled in 
the 90's in prospecting for oil. When gas was found, the 
territory was abandoned. About six wells showing gas 
have been drilled and plugged. The limits and capacity 
of the field are not known. 

Glasgow Gas Field — (17) 

Geography — This gas field is located in and surround- 
ing the town of Glasgow, Kentucky, in Barren County. 
The extent of this field is not definitely known, but it is 
regarded as a relatively small field. 

Geology — The natural gas of the Glasgow field is 
secured at depths ranging from 415 to 500 feet in an 
Ordovician limestone "sand," 105 feet beneath the 
Devonian shale. No large structure exists at Glasgow, 
and gas for this reason is regarded to be a pocket deposit. 
The surface rocks are the Warsaw limestones (Lower 
Mississippian). There are now fourteen wells drilled 



58 Natueal Gas of Kentucky 



producing gas and no dry holes. The largest well is the 
Powell gasser with an open flow of 500,000 cubic feet and 
a rock pressure of 150 pounds. The Sampson gasses has 
the highest rock pressure with 270 pounds, but its open 
flow is only 200,000 cubic feet. The total gas production 
of the Glasgow field now is 3,500,000 cubic feet open flow. 
History — The Glasgow gas field was opened during 
the year 1921 by " wildcatters ' ' prospecting for oil. 

Diamond Springs Gas Field — (18) 

Geography — This field is located in northwestern 
Logan County on the L. & N. Railroad in the vicinity 
of Diamond Springs Post Office. The extent of the field, 
which is small, has been well defined by a number of old 
wells. 

Geology — The natural gas of this field is found in 

the limestone beneath the Devonian black shale, which 
occurs on a sharp monoclinal dip to the northwest. The 
wells are approximately 700 feet deep. The surface rocks 
are Pottsville (Pennsylvanian) sandstones and shales, 
and Chester (Mississippian) limestones and sandstones. 
History — Practically all of the wells in the Diamond 
Springs gas field are old wells, having been drilled in about 
1910. 

Central City Gas Field — (19) 

Geography — This field is located closely surrounding 
Central City and Junction Point on the L. & N. and the 
I. C. Railroads. The wells are located close to the town and 
used for local consumption. The production is not large. 

Geology — The gas of the Central City gas field is 
found in the Coal Measures in association with No. 8 coal. 
The structure has not been defined. The surface rocks 
are Pottsville (Pennsylvanian). 

History— The first productive gas well was drilled in 
the Central City region about 1910. 



Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 59 

Penrod Gas Field — (20) 

Geography — This field is located in the southeastern 
part of Muhlenberg County on Rocky Creek, between 
Rosewood, Penrod and Dunmore. 

Geology — The surface rocks are Pottsville (Penn- 
sylvanian) sandstones, shales ajid coals. This gas field 
lies about two miles south of the Twin Tunnels fault, 
and is on the upthrow side of the fault, which is normal. 
The displacement of the break is unknow r n. Its direction 
is S. 86 E. The normal regional dip is almost clue north. 
Gas pay sands are reported to be Pottsville (Pennsyl- 
vanian), and are found at a depth of about 700 feet. 

History — The field is new and to date only four wells 
have been drilled. The first of these produced a small 
amount of gas and oil. The second showed about 300,000 
-cubic feet of gas and some oil. The last two wells pro- 
duced both oil and gas. Further testing is contemplated 
for the near future. 

Newcombe Creek Gas Field — (21) 

The Newcombe Creek field is located in the southern- 
central portion of Elliott County, Kentucky. The nearest 
railroad station is Redwine on the North Fork Railroad, 
and is ten miles distant. The field is about four miles 
long and from one-half to three-quarters miles wide. 

Geology — The gas of this field is found in the Wier 
and Berea sands (Mississippian) at a depth of about 800 
feet. The structure is an elongated dome, the major 
axis of which is nearly north and south. A contour map 
of this structure has been published by the Kentucky 
Geological Survey as a part of Series V, Bull. I, Oil & 
Gas Resources of Kentucky. The surface rocks are 
Pottsville (Pennsylvanian) sandstones, shales and coals. 



60 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



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Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 61 

History — Gas was first secured in the Elliott County 
field in 1917, and sporadic drilling has continued to date, 
with the result that there are at present four or five gas 
wells in this field which produced when drilled in between 
250,000 and 1,000,000 cubic feet open flow per day. The 
gas is not commercialized. 

Sexton Creek Gas Field— (22) 

Geography — This field is located in northwestern 
Clay County on Sexton Creek, a northeasternly flowing 
tributary to the South Fork of the Kentucky River. 

Geology — The structure is an anticline which has 
been recognized by a study of the surficial coals. Pro- 
duction is secured from the Corniferous (Devonian) 
limestone. The surface rocks are Pottsville (Pennsyl- 
vanian) sandstones, shales and coals. 

History — The discovery well of this field was drilled 
in about 1918 by Charles Dulin and associates, and the 
amount of production is not known. The nearest rail- 
road station is Manchester, which is located ten miles to 
the southeast. 

Barbourville Gas Field — (23) 

Geography — These gas fields are located in the 
immediate vicinity of Barbourville and Little Richland 
Creek. 

Geology — The gas found here is secured in the Big 
Injun (Mississippian), Epperson, Jones and Wages 
(Pennsylvanian) sands. No large structure is known 
to exist at this point, and gas is regarded as a pocket 
deposit. The depths of the wells vary from 400 to 1,400 
feet. The surface rocks are Pottsville (Pennsylvanian). 



62 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

History — The first gas well of commercial importance 
in the Knox County gas field was drilled in about 1900 by 
oil prospectors. In 1906 the Cumberland Gas Co. in- 
stalled its transmission line, and in 1907 began supplying 
gas to domestic consumers in Barbourville. 

Temple Hill Gas Field — (24) 

Geography — This gas field is located in southeastern 
Barren County on the head of Skaggs Creek at Temple 
Hill Post Office. The field is ten miles distant from the 
nearest railroad station, which is Glasgow. 

Geology — Gas produced in the Temple Hill gas 
field is secured in the porous strata of the Ordovician 
limestone at a depth of from 800 to 1,200 feet. A pro- 
nounced anticlinal structure with a northeast-southwest 
axis is responsible for the gas accumulation, which occurs 
in pockets. The field is not more than a mile long and 
one-half mile wide. The surface rocks are Warsaw and 
Fort Payne (Lower Mississippian) limestones. 

History — The first producing well drilled in the 
Temple Hill gas field was drilled by Merry Bros, of 
Glasgow, Ky., in 1919. The well produced originally 
1,000,000 cubic feet of gas, after which it rapidly declined. 
Since then three other gas wells have been drilled in this 
section, one of which is regarded to have had an original 
production considerably over 5,000,000 cubic feet. This 
volume rapidly blew off, however, and the well declined 
to a very nominal pressure and volume. This gas field 
is not regarded as one of large commercial importance, 
due to the short life of the wells. 



Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 



63 



Meredith Gas Field — (25) 

Geography — This field is recognized by a single 
well located \y 2 miles southeast of Meredith Post Office 
in Grayson County on the C. Hazelwood farm. The 
field is about ten miles southeast of Leitchfield. 

Geology — The index gasser of this field is located on 
the top of the Meredith dome. Production was secured 




DRILLING FOR GAS WITH A PORTABLE RIG 

Throughout Eastern Kentucky wherever the gas sands are shallow 
enough the "portable rig" is used in preference to the "standard derrick.' ' 



in the Mississippian System, in what is called the Major 
"Sand" at a depth of 1160 feet. The surface rocks are 
Pottsville (Pennsylvanian) sandstones, shales and coals. 

History — This well was drilled in 1917 by the Ken- 
tucky Oil & Refining Company. When gauged by the 
writer in November, 1921, it was found to be making 
00,000 cubic feet, with a rock pressure of 335 pounds. 



64 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

A well drilled approximately 2^ miles south was un- 
productive. There is no commercial outlet for the gas 
of this field at the present time. 



Cloverport Gas Field — (26) 

Geography — This gas. field is located in northwestern 
Breckinridge County on the L. & N. Railroad surround- 
ing Cloverport and joining the Ohio River. 

Geology And History — The gas found here is pro- 
duced from a "sand" within the black Chattanooga 
shale (Devonian). Wells are small, and have been 
drilled in for a long time. Production from this field 
reached its peak a number of years ago, since which time 
it has been declining. It is now practically abandoned, 
and of no commercial importance. The surface rocks 
are limestones and shales of the Chester Series (Upper 
Mississippian). 



Island Creek Gas Field — (27) 

Geography — This Owsley County gas field is located 
in the southwestern portion of Owsley County towards 
the head of Island Creek, a tributary of the South Fork 
of the Kentucky River. The nearest railroad station is 
Cressmont in southern Lee County, which is ten miles 
distant in an air line to the northwest. The nearest 
post office is Travelers Rest. The extent of the gas 
field, which is recognized by three index gas wells, is 
unknown. 

Geology — Structure of this field is reported to be 
anticlinal, with regional dip to the southeast. The 



Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 65 

field is located close to the bottom of the Eastern Kentucky 
geo-syncline. The surficial rocks are Pottsville (Penn- 
sylvanian) sandstones, shales and coals. Gas produc- 
tion is secured from Corniferous (Devonian) limestone. 
The wells are about 1,200 feet deep. 

History — Gas was discovered in the field by the 
Owsley Oil and Gas Company in the Harve Price No. 1 
in 1918. This well gauged originally 1,250,000 cubic 
feet open flow. Later, the Rufus Barker No. 1 was 
drilled, with initial production of 1,100,000 cubic feet. 
The Petroleum Exploration Co. drilled in the third 
gasser, the Aleck Bond No. 1, which had an original open 
flow of 1,050,000 cubic feet of natural gas. Further 
developments are now under way in this region. 



Rock Fork Gas Field — (28) 

Geography — This Knott County gas field is located 
toward the head* of Rock Fork of Right Beaver Creek, 
close to the Floyd County line. It is known by one well 
only, which is drilled on the W. R. Bolin farm. 

Geology — The structure of this field is anticlinal, the 
fold pitching to the north. The gas "sand" is a porous 
strata within the Big Lime. The field lies close to the 
Beaver Creek field, and like the latter field is located on 
the southeastern flank of the Eastern Kentucky geo- 
syncline. The surface rocks are Pottsville (Pennsylvanian) 
sandstones, shales and coals. The Kentucky Geological 
Survey has prepared a structural map of Knott County. 

History — This well was drilled in by the Pennagrade 
Oil and Gas Co. in 1917 while prospecting for oil. It 
gauged 4,680,000 cubic feet, had a rock pressure of 540 
pounds, and was shut in. The size of the field is unknown, 



66 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

as no other wells have been drilled in this immediate 
vicinity. The Big Lime sand, while a big flush producer 
of gas, is not regarded as long-lived. 

Prestonsburg Gas Field — (29) 

Geography — This field is located on Middle Creek 
and Bull Creek in central Floyd County, Ky. 

Geology — Surface rocks are Pottsville (Pennsylvan- 
ian) sandstones, shales and coals. Gas production is 
secured from the Wier (Mississippian) and Corniferous 
(Devonian) "sands" at depths ranging from 1,450 to 2,400 
feet. The structure is distinctly anticlinal, though 
located close to the Eastern Kentucky geo-syncline, 
which passes just to the north of this pool. 

History — This small gas field is known by three 
wells, two on Middle Creek and one on Bull Creek. 
The first one was drilled in on the John Gray farm on 
Bull Creek in 1917 by the Eastern Gulf Oil Company in 
prospecting for oil. The Middle Creek wells were drilled 
in 1918 and 1919 by A. Fleming and associates on the 
Middle Creek Coal Co. tracts, and the Eastern Kentucky 
Development Co. on the W. H. Fitzpatrick lease. Gas 
from all three of these wells is now piped at Prestonsburg, 
where it is used by domestic consumers. The volume and 
rock pressure of these wells is not known, but they were 
not large. The Bull Creek well is the best gasser of the 
three. 



Natural Gas Resources of Kentucky 67 

Monticello Gas Field — (30) 

And 

Sparta Gas Field — (31) 

These fields are of no commercial importance at 
present, though each gave promise of commercialization 
for a time. The Monticello field was located close to the 
Wayne County town of the same name, and produced 
from two "sands," the Berea and a shallow "sand" above 
it. Natural gas was piped into Monticello in 1918, where 
it was used for a few months. The gas reserves of Wayne 
County were rapidly exhausted, however, and new ones 
could not be developed. 

The Sparta field is located in southeastern Gallatin 
County. It produced a considerable amount of gas in 
two or three wells drilled during the years 1920 and 1921 
from Ordovician, possibly Trenton, sands. The produc- 
tion was flashy and soon exhausted. It was never commer- 
cialized except for drilling purposes. 



CHAPTER III 
OUR NATURAL GAS INDUSTRIES 

It is not difficult to establish the fact that natural 
gas is a luxury which is rapidly decreasing in quantity 
in many places, and especially in the Eastern United 
States. The fact has been well established in Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, and West Virginia. It is now being established in 
Kentucky by a general recognition of actual conditions 
of depletion in the fields throughout the State. 

At a time when the public is beginning to give its 
attention to the certain exhaustion in the near future of 
this valuable mineral resource, it is pertinent that some 
consideration be given to those industries which depend 
upon it for their continuance. The two users of large 
quantities of natural gas in Kentucky, are: The public 
utilities corporations, which supply by the use of ex- 
tensive pipe lines the domestic consumers in our cities 
and the carbon black corporations, which produce and 
use natural gas in the field for the manufacture of carbon 
black. Since the gas field interests of these two principal 
consumers of Kentucky's natural gas are in direct conflict, 
it is expedient that each of them be presented separately, 
in order that an adequate understanding and contrast of 
their economic value to society may be secured. The 
public service corporations supplying natural gas will be 
discussed first, and the carbon black manufacturers later. 

Public Utilities Corporations Supplying 
Natural Gas 

In the State of Kentucky there are three large gas 
public utilities corporations. One of these, the Central 
Kentucky Natural Gas Company, serves through its 



Our Natural Gas Industries 69 

subsidiaries 14,898 consumers in the towns of Paintsville, 
Mt. Sterling, Winchester, Paris, Lexington, Versailles, 
Midway and Frankfort. Another, the Kentucky Pipe 
Line Company, which is a subsidiary of the Louisville 
Gas and Electric Company, serves 49,710 consumers in 
the City of Louisville, its suburbs, and the field including 
Ivyton, Magoffin County. Each of these companies owns 
and operates a 6, 8 and 12-inch main transmission line 
extending from the Martin County gas field in Eastern 
Kentucky through to their respective western termini, 
Frankfort and Louisville. The Kentucky Pipe Line 
Company's main, 222 miles in length, was constructed 
during 1913 and 1914, and was completed March 15, 1914. 
The Central Kentucky Gas Company's main line was 
completed in 1912. This latter line has several short 
connections to Eastern Kentucky fields, principally in 
Johnson and Menifee Counties. The Kentucky Pipe Line 
Company is interested as a small stockholder in the 
natural gas transmission line of the Pennagrade Oil and 
Gas Company from the Beaver Creek gas fields in Floyd 
County to its main line in Johnson County. The Kentucky 
Pipe Line Company also owns and operates a gas line 
from the Ivyton gas field in Magoffin County which 
connects with its main line in Johnson County. 

Both of these companies have made much use of the 
Martin County, Kentucky, gas fields and the West Vir- 
ginia gas fields in the past, through the United Fuel Gas 
Company's (Columbia Gas and Electric Co.), service 
from Inez in Martin County. Each of them still secures a 
considerable portion of their natural gas from this source 
of supply, though the volume which this large West 
Virginia service corporation has been able to give to the 
Kentucky service corporations has steadily decreased 
during the last several years, due to the depreciation of 



70 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 




PRELIMINARY WORK ON GAS PIPE LINE 

On many of the steep hillsides of Eastern Kentucky "breakers" have 
to be built into the gas pipe line ditch to prevent washing. This view 
is in Morgan County. 



Our Natural Gas Industries 



71 



the source of natural gas supply in Martin County, 
Kentucky, and elsewhere in West Virginia. 

The following table shows the volumes and values of 
the recent annual runs of some of the larger natural gas 
public utilities corporations of Kentucky. The first 
serves the central cities and the second Louisville, princi- 
pally. 




UP HILL, DOWN HILL, AND ON 

Big gas pipe lines in Eastern Kentucky avoid neither the hills nor the 
valleys in their efforts to follow the shortest course — a straight line. 

Runs and values Central Kentucky Natural Gas Co. (1919-21). 

Yrs - C ^O n OoTu. tl ft n, Field Value delivery Value 

1919 1,548,579 $154,857.00 $619,431.60 

1920 2, 005, 989 200, 599 . 00 802, 395 . 60 

1921 1,936,109 193,611.00 774,443.60 
Runs and Values Kentucky Pipe Line Co. (1918-20). 

1918 1,685,000 $i86, 529.00 $589,750.00 

1919 1,965,000 194,535.00 687,750.00 

1920 2, 760, 000 276, 864 . 00 966, 000 . 00 

Larger than either the Kentucky Pipe Line Co. or the 
Central Kentucky Gas Co. in point of capitalization, but 
much inferior to these corporations in point of direct 



72 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



service to Kentucky municipal consumers, is the United 
Fuel Gas Co.'s pipe lines, which extend northward from 
Inez in the Martin County fields through Louisa to 
Catlettsburg and Ashland, Huntington, Ironton, Ports- 
mouth, Cincinnati and other points. The principal 
towns and cities in Kentucky served by this line are Inez, 
Louisa, Buchanan, Catlettsburg, Ashland, Maysville, 
Greenup, Covington and Newport, which towns taken 
altogether consume a relatively large amount of 
natural gas. 

Comparison of Natural Gas Volumes Produced in Kentucky 
and the Volumes Imported from W. Va., and Ohio.* 





Volume 


Kentucky 


Volume 


Imported 


Total 


Year 


Produced 


Percentage 


Imported 


Percent- 


Volume 




in 


of 


from W. Va. 


of 


Consumed 




Kentucky. 


Consumption. 


and Ohio. 


Consump- 
tion. 


in Kentucky 


1910 


1, 356, 771 


28% 


3, 423, 719 


72% 


4, 780, 490 


1911 


1, 358, 963 


29% 


3, 375, 617 


71% 


4, 734, 580 


1912 


1, 659, 696 


32% 


3, 443, 245 


68% 


5, 102, 941 


1913 


1, 821, 526 


37% 


3, 089, 516 


63% 


4,911,042 


1914 


1,421,818 


19% 


5,803,808 


81% 


7, 225, 626 


1915 


1, 667, 423 


21% 


6, 078, 930 


79% 


7, 746, 353 


1916 


2, 106, 542 


21% 


7,781,414 


79% 


9, 887, 956 


1917 


2, 802, 079 


23% 


9, 251, 366 


77% 


12, 053, 445 


1918 


3, 022, 439 


25% 


9, 177, 751 


75% 


12, 200, 190 



* All volumes are figured in M cubic foot units ; U. S. G-. S. Min. Res. 
adapted. 

Much smaller in size than the three utilities corpora- 
tions discussed above is the Green River Gas Company, 
which owns a large portion of the recently outlined Green 
River gas field in Green and Taylor Counties, Kentucky. 
This company operates a short line out of this field to 
Greensburg and Campbellsville, and is proposing the 
construction of a pipe line from Campbellsville on to 
Lebanon, and other small towns. This latter line has not 
yet been constructed. 



Our Natural Gas Industries 



73 



Volumes and Values of Natural Gas Consumed in Kentucky. 

(1910-1918.) 

(All volumes in M cubic feet.) 



Year 


Total 

Volume 

Consumed. 


Value 
of Con- 
sumption. 


Average 
Price in 
Cents Per 
M cu. ft. 


Percent- 
age of 
Increase 
over Pre- 
vious Year. 


Volume 

Imported 

from W. Va. 

and Ohio. 


1910 


4, 780, 490 
4, 734, 580 
5, 102, 941 
5,911,042 
7, 225, 626 
7, 746, 353 
9, 887, 956 
12, 165, 489 
12, 200, 190 


$908, 293 
901, 759 
1, 070, 664 
1, 225, 116 
1,787,308 
1, 942, 423 
2, 331, 687 
3, 114, 402 
3, 093, 393 


19.00 
19.05 
20.98 
20.72 
24.73 
25.08 
23.59 
25.84 
25.35 




3, 423, 719 


1911 
1912 
1913 
1914 
1915 
1916 
1917 
1918 


l%t 

7.56% 
15.83% 

22% 

7% 
28% 
22% 

.0028% 


3, 375, 617 
3, 443, 245 
3,089,516 
5, 803, 808 
6, 078, 930 
7,781,414 
9,251,366 
9, 177, 751 


Total 


69, 754, 667 


16, 375, 045 


Gen. Av. 22.7 





51, 425, 366 



* The major totals include all of the Kentucky produced natural gas, 
plus that which is imported from West Virginia and Ohio; U. S. G. S. 
Min. Res. adapted. 

f Decrease of 1911 compared to 1910. 



The amount of natural gas furnished by the public 
utilities corporations of this State and consumed by the 
householders of our Kentucky cities is very large, totaling 
according to the best figures available 2,760,000 M 
cubic feet in 1920. The following table shows the distri- 
bution and production of natural gas in the cities service 
industries. 

The average individual has but little conception of 
the large number of domestic consumers who are served 
by the public utilities corporations of this State, and of 
the real and widespread dependence placed upon this 
fuel source for domestic heating and lighting. The 
following table shows the distribution of domestic and 
industrial consumers from 1906 to 1918. 



74 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 




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Our Natural Gas Industries 



75 



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76 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



Consumers and Producers of Natural Gas in Kentucky.' 

(1906-1918.) 



Year 


Domestic. 


Industrial. 


Total 
Consumers. 


Number of 
Producers. 


1906 


17, 216 


18 


17, 234 


45 


1907 


19, 279 


239 


19, 518 


38 


1908 


21,778 


42 


21, 820 


38 


1909 


25, 639 


137 


25, 776 


38 


1910 


27, 961 


112 


28, 073 


47 


1911 


41, 201 


70 


41, 271 


74 


1912 


45, 603 


103 


45,706 


88 


1913 


54, 446 


146 


54, 592 


93 


1914 


78, 505 


128 


78, 633 


101 


1915 


84, 666 


117 


84, 783 


86 


1916 


85, 583 


125 


85, 708 


107 


1917 


90,041 


124 


90, 165 


118 


1918 


90, 849 


100 


90, 949 


122 



The widespread use of natural gas for fuel and light 
in Kentucky is indicated by the fact that sixty-two towns 
and cities, and nearly 100,000 consumers, are now de- 
pendent upon it. 



Recent Natural Gas Deliveries to Louisville, Ky. 
(Volumes in M Cubic Feet) 

Month Deliveries Deliveries Deliveries 

1919 1920 1921 

January 291,000 365,000 392,000 

February 272,000 343,000 356,000 

March 282,000 314,000 303,000 

April 245,000 306,000 270,000 

May 218,000 237,000 228,000 

June 145,000 169,000 155,000 

July 144,000 164,000 165,000 

August 155,000 168,000 188,000 

September 164,000 183,000 190,000 

October 205,000 254,000 308,000 

November 289,000 357,000 346,000 

December 357,000 412,000 440,000 

Total 2,766,000 3,272,000 3,340,000 



* U. S. G. S. Min. Res. adapted. 



Our Natural Gas Industries 



77 



Kentucky Towns and Cities Using Natural Gas-1921 : 



1 Ashland. 

2 Barbourville. 

3 Bellevue. 

4 Brooksville. 

5 Buchanan. 

6 Burning Springs. 

7 Campbellsville— 475*. 

8 Caney. 

9 Cannel City. 

10 Catlettsburg. 

11 Central City— 250. 

12 Chinnville. 

13 Clifton. 

14 Clintonville. 

15 Cloverport— 200. 

16 Cold Spring. 

17 Covington— 28,567. 

18 Dayton. 

19 Diamond Springs. 

20 Dover. 

21 Estill. 

22 Foster. 

23 Frankfort— 2,638. 

24 Garrett. 

25 Glasgow— 30. 

26 Greensburg— 125. 

27 Greenup. 

28 Hazel Green. 

29 Inez. 

30 Ivyton— 25. 

31 Kavanaugh. 



32 Kenner. 

33 Langley. 

34 Leitchfield— 100. 

35 Lexington— 7,315. 

36 Louisa. 

37 Louisville— 49,685. 

38 Ludlow. 

39 Maysville— 1,544. 

40 Maytown. 

41 Midway. 

42 Monticello. 

43 Mt. Sterling— 1,134. 

44 Newport. 

45 North Middletown. 

46 Paints ville— 369. 

47 Paris— 1,300. 

48 Pollard. 

49 Prestonsburg — 250. 

50 Rothwell. 

51 Poissell. 

52 Salyersville— 100. 

53 Versailles — 116. 

54 Warfield. 

55 Wayland. 

56 West Covington. 

57 West Liberty. 

58 West Point. 

59 Wheelwright. 

60 Williamsburg— 300. 

61 Winchester— 2,026. 

62 Worthington. 



In summation, the public utilities natural gas service 
corporations of the State of Kentucky have at present 
invested capital in the sum of approximately $25,000,000 
in their endeavors to serve municipal domestic consumers 
with fuel and light. At the present time there is invested 
by the natural gas consuming public not less than $9,500,- 
000. In the year 1918, 90,849 individual consumers in 
the towns and cities of Kentucky used 12,200,190 
cubic feet of natural gas, which was worth $1,220,019 
in the field, and $3,093,393 to the purchasing public. 
Data for 1921, were it available, would undoubtedly 
show a considerable increase in both the total volume 
and value of the natural gas consumed in Kentucky. 



The number of consumers is given where known. 



78 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 




o> o 
fteS 



Our Natural Gas Industries 



79 



Volumes and Values of Natural Gas Produced in 
Kentucky and Consumed in Kentucky. 



Year 



Volume 

Natural 

Gas Produced 

in Kentucky 

M cu. ft. Unit. 



Value of 

Production 

in the Field at 

10 Cents Per 

M cu. ft. 



Value of 
Kentucky- 
Produced 
Natural Gas 
Consumed in 
Kentucky. 



Average 
Rate Per 
M cu. ft. 



1890 


100, 000 


$10, 000 


$30, 000 


.30 


1891 


129, 973 


12, 997 


38, 993 


.30 


1892 


143,916 


14, 392 


43, 175 


.30 


1893 


228, 333 


22, 833 


68, 500 


.30 


1894 


277, 333 


27, 733 


89, 200 


.30 


1895 


329, 000 


32, 900 


98, 700 


.30 


1896 


330, 000 


33, 000 


99, 000 


.30 


1897 


300, 000 


30, 000 


90,000 


.30 


1898 


343, 766 


34, 377 


103, 133 


.30 


1899 


419, 150 


41,915 


125, 745 


.30 


1900 


646, 773 


64, 677 


194, 032 


.30 


1901 


625, 533 


62, 553 


187, 660 


.30 


1902 


852, 603 


85, 260 


255, 781 


.30 


1903 


935, 753 


93, 575 


280, 726 


.30 


1904 


895, 213 


89, 521 


268, 564 


.30 


1905 


848, 535 


84, 854 


237, 590 


.28 


1906 


1,026,790 


102, 679 


287, 501 


.28 


1907 


1,357,777 


135, 778 


380, 176 


.28 


1908 


1, 515, 254 


151, 525 


424, 271 


.28 


1909 


2, 097, 471 


209, 747 


485, 192 


.23+ 


1910 


1, 356, 771 


135, 677 


456, 293 


.34- 


1911 


1, 358, 963 


135, 590 


407, 689 


.30 


1912 


1, 659, 696 


165, 970 


497, 909 


.30 


1913 


1,821,526 


182, 153 


509, 846 


.28 


1914 


1,421,818 


142, 182 


490, 875 


.35 


1915 


1, 667, 423 


166, 742 


614, 998 


.368 


1916 


2, 106, 542 


210, 654 


752, 635 


.34 


1917 


2, 802, 079 


280, 208 


872, 706 


.34 


1918 


3, 022, 439 


302, 243 


1, 027, 629 


.34 


1919 


3, 942, 000 


394, 200 


1, 103, 760 


.28* 


1920 


3, 497, 000 


349, 700 


1, 014, 130 


.29* 


1921 


4,742,000 


474, 200 


1, 360, 340 


.27* 


Total 


42, 801, 430 


$4, 279, 835 


$12, 896, 749 


Gen.Av..311 



* Volumes and values of 1919, 1920, and 1921 estimated. Average 
price per M decline is due to increasingly large amounts of natural gas 
consumed by carbon black manufacturers in Eastern Kentucky at low 
figure of 10i cents per M cubic feet. 



80 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



Carbon Black Defined 

There is a popular confusion among laymen in the use 
of the terms lamp black and carbon black. This should 
not be, for they are two entirely distinct commodities. 
Although their appearance is somewhat similar, their 
method of manufacture is entirely different, lamp black 
being a by-product of oil, and carbon black a by-product 




EASTERN CARBON PLANT IN OPERATION 

This plant is located in the Beaver Creek Gas Field in Floyd County, 
Ky. Dence soot or carbon fumes make detailed photographs impossible. 



of natural gas. Both of these commodities are a soot, 
and throughout the United States they are commonly 
classed together in the literature under the title "lamp 
black. " Each product is formed by a smudge or partial 
combustion process in which oil, coal tar, resin or some 
other solid or liquid carbonaceous substance is burned 
in an insufficient quantity of oxygen or air. 



Our Natural Gas Industries 81 

Carbon black taken separately refers to the product 
resulting from the incomplete combustion of gas, and is 
deposited by actual contact of the flame upon some 
metallic substance. A large number of carbonaceous 
materials, such as gas retort coke, oil coke, graphite, 
carbon black, lamp black, fine black, wood pulp black, 
willow charcoal refuse blacks, and leather blacks, are 
prepared and on the market. Each of these possess 
different flocculent and qualitative characteristics. 
None of them show the same color, chemical composition, 
or physical structure. Each kind of "black" has its own 
specific adaptation or adaptations, and is not readily 
substituted for another. In some cases substitutes are 
impossible. 

The term carbon black is synonymous with a number 
of trade names developed, and, in some instances, copy- 
righted, by carbon black manufacturers. Some of 
these commercial titles are Gas Black, Natural Gas 
Black, Ebony Black, Jet Black, Hydro-Carbon Black, 
Satin Gloss Black, Silicate of Carbon Black. 

All of these carbon blacks are made in one of the four 
following methods: (1) formation by direct contact 
of the natural gas flame upon a depositing surface; (2) 
produced by combustion of the oil, tar, etc., in an inade- 
quate supply of air where soot is allowed to settle slowly 
on the floors and walls of the collecting chambers; (3) 
carbonization of solids after their reduction to a very 
finely divided condition; (4) produced by heating carbon- 
aceous vapors or gases to the temperature of decomposi- 
tion. The heat is applied externally with or without 
air in the forming chambers. This is called the cracking 
or thermal decomposition method. Carbon blacks so 
produced are essentially a mixture of hydro-carbon and 
other organic substances, and may in certain cases con- 
tain a considerable percentage of mineral matter. 



82 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

History of The Carbon Black Industry. 

Carbon black as an industry was born in the year 
1872, when two gentlemen, Messrs. Halworth and Lamb, 
of Massachusetts, erected at New Cumberland, West 
Virginia, the first factory in the product which was 
successfully made on a commercial scale. At this early 
time no regulatory appliances for natural gas were known, 
and a very great waste of natural gas resulted. The 
indiscriminate blowing of natural gas was not, however, 
recognized as an economic waste at this early time. 
Since 1826, when natural gas was first used for lighting 
purposes in the United States, at Fredonia, New York, 
no regulating appliances had been perfected. The total 
consumption of natural gas in this way was small. Nat- 
ural gas itself was very cheap, and the waste in propor- 
tion to the amount used was very large. At this time 
natural gas was considered a dangerous nuisance, to be 
"blown off" in an oil field whenever found if possible, or 
to be disposed of in any other practical or safe way. 

For a short time the manufacturers of carbon black at 
New Cumberland, West Virginia, though employing 
very crude methods involving slabs of soap-stone as 
depositing surfaces for the carbon black, had things 
their own way and sold their product to the trade at a 
maximum of $2.50 per pound. Their product, however, 
was in many ways not as excellent as that which has 
recently sold for five and six cents per pound. The demand 
for carbon black increased rapidly, and in 1883 A. R. 
Blood devised the revolving disc method of manufacturing 
carbon black. This process is still in use, and is now 
known as the "Blood or Rotating Disc" method. 

The new process improved the methods of production 
and brought the price down to 31 cents per pound. 



Our Natural Gas Industries 83 

Mr. Blood, working to perfect a better process of carbon 
black manufacture, evolved the roller process about the 
same time, which, though it gave a much smaller yield 
of carbon black, produced a much finer grade. Carbon 
black thus produced sells today for a higher price than 
other grades. About ten years later, in 1892, L. J. McNutt 
patented his channel process, which was an improvement 
over all the other methods from a mechanical stand- 
point. It was at this time that petroleum was first in- 
troduced in the attempted manufacture of carbon black. 
The trial was unsuccessful. Since the time McNutt's 
patent was registered, a number of improved methods have 
been completed, most of which are not practical. In 1916 
a patent was issued covering a new process for the pro- 
duction of carbon black from the mulsified or cut crude 
oil, now a great oil field waste. But this method has not 
succeeded from a commercial standpoint. 

Production of Carbo n Black 

Up until the recent discovery of the large natural gas 
fields near Monroe and Shreveport, in Louisiana, about 
seventy-five per cent of the world's supply of carbon 
black was produced in West Virginia, which had been 
producing and selling natural gas for about 3 cents and 
4 cents per 1,000 cubic feet. Recent advances in the price 
of West Virginia natural gas to 7 cents and 8 cents per 
1,000 cubic feet forced many of the carbon black manu- 
facturers of this State to move to other sections where gas 
could be secured at a lower figure. In Louisiana the 
average price is 2 cents and in Oklahoma 5 cents to 6}4 
cents per 1,000 cubic feet. In the State of West Virginia 
in 1918 there was produced 289,123,513,000 cubic feet of 
gas, of which 24,830,697,000 cubic feet of gas was consumed 
in carbon black manufacture. This represented a reduction 
of the immense volume of natural gas used for carbon 



84 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



black purposes amounting to 1,232,009,000 cubic feet 
for the entire State of West Virginia as compared with the 
production figures of 1917. But because of the decrease in 
the total production of natural gas for the entire state, the 
percentage of natural gas used by carbon black really 
jumped ahead from 8.5 per cent in 1917 to 8.7 per cent in 
1918. Statistics covering the recent production of carbon 
black in the United States follow: 




NORTH VIEW OF LIBERTY CARBON PLANT 

This carbon manufacturing plant is located in the Beaver Creek Gas 
Field. The escaping fumes of carbon or soot indicate a portion of the 
lost fuel. 

TABLE I. 
Production of Carbon Black from Natural Gas in 
the United States in 1918. 

West Virginia 30, 000, 000 lbs. 

Louisiana 8, 000,000 lbs. 

Wyoming 3, 000, 000 lbs. 

Oklahoma 1, 500,000 lbs. 

Other States, including Kentucky, _ . 1, 000, 000 lbs. 

Total 43, 500, 000 lbs. 



Our Natural Gas Industries 



85 



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Natural Gas of Kentucky 



Uses of Carbon Black 

The industries making large use of carbon black are 
many. The product enters as a necessary constituent 
into the manufacture of printing inks, automobile rubber 
tires, paints, stove and shoe polishes, phonograph records, 
black leathers, bookbinders' boards, buttons, typewriter 
ribbons, carbon papers, celluloids, electric insulators, 




NORTHEASTERN VIEW OF EASTERN CARBON PLANT 

The methods used by this plant are as good as any now known and in 
general and commercial use. The fuel loss percentage is nevertheless high. 



carriage cloths, colors and pigments, drawing and mark- 
ing inks, artificial stones, tarpaulins and black tiles. 
Carbon black superseded the use of lamp black as a 
pigment in printers' ink in 1864, when it was found that a 
blacker and more rapid imprint could be obtained from 
inks using carbon black as a pigment. Modern newspaper 



Our Natural Gas Industries 87 

printing and other forms of rapid printing where rotary 
presses require a rapid drying ink, find carbon black inks 
indispensable. The finely divided nature of carbon black 
is well illustrated when it is pointed out that a single 
pound when mixed with eight pounds of oil and other 
chemicals will make ink sufficient in quantity to print 
over 2,000 copies of the ordinary sixteen-page city news- 
paper. 

About 35 per cent of the total output of carbon black 
is used in the printers' ink industry. The rubber tire 
manufacturing business of this country is the other large 
individual consumer of carbon black. It is used in tire 
manufacture as a strengthening agent, giving the rubber 
a greater mileage and increasing its tensile strength and 
elasticity considerably. About 40 per cent of the carbon 
black manufactured in this country is used in the rubber 
tire business, and the large number of black tread tires 
seen on the market is illustrative of the importance and 
value of this use of carbon black. 

The amount of carbon black exported to foreign 
countries during the war and shortly thereafter was small, 
chiefly because of the closing of the German and Aus- 
trian ports. Prior to 1914 about one-third of the carbon 
black manufactured in this country went to these coun- 
tries. England, France, China and Japan also imported 
American carbon black. Recently the export of this 
mineral resource by-product has increased considerably, 
due to the stimulation of world trade. The renewal of 
relations with Germany and Austria may also be expected 
to increase the annual export very considerably. 



88 Natueal Gas of Kentucky 



Chemical Composition and Recovery Percentage. 

Analyses of natural gases are extremely variable. 

The following ranges of methane in natural gas have 

been demonstrated : 

Louisiana 94. 12 

West Virginia 70.75 

West Virginia 65.23 

Wyoming 46. 45 

The ethane fraction is quite as variable, and is as follows: 

Louisiana 3. 44 

West Virginia 24.14 

West Virginia 30.07 

Wyoming 43. 10 

The nitrogens also vary as follows : 

Louisiana 1.94 

West Virginia 4.83 

West Virginia 3.14 

Wyoming 9. 49 

The carbons per one thousand feet also show an ine- 
quality which is as follows: 

Louisiana 33. 8 lbs. 

West Virginia 39.9 lbs. 

West Virginia 42.3 lbs. 

Wyoming 44.3 lbs. 

That the percentage of carbon recovery in the carbon 
black industries is relatively small is soon seen by a 
comparison of recovery volumes with the above figures. 
The great waste of carbon is, however, only a fraction of 
the total loss. To it must be added all of the hydrogen 
which, of course, could not be deposited, and is lost as 
unused heat. The carbon recovery for the States dis- 
cussed above is as follows : 

Louisiana 2.4 

West Virginia 2.5 

West Virginia 2.6 

Wyoming 3.1 



Our Natural Gas Industries 



89 



Comparison of Methods. 

The four commercial processes perfected and used in 
manufacturing carbon black have many merits and 
demerits, but are generally evaluated in the following 
order : 

(1) Channel system. This system produces the 
largest quantity and the best commercial grade. (2) 




MAKING NATURAL GAS CARBON BLACK 

This view shows both the factory and dwellings used by employees of 
The Eastern Carbon Company on Beaver Creek, Floyd County, Kentucky. 

Small rotating disc. This method is inferior in some 
respects to the channel system, but is widely used. 

(3) The rotating cylinder. This process produces the 
best grade of carbon black, but a much smaller quantity. 

(4) The large plate. This method produces a larger 
quantity than the rotating cylinder, but is inferior to it 
in grade. It does not produce as large an amount as 



90 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

the rotating disc or the channel system. There is very 
little carbon black produced by the so-called "cracking 
process. " 

The factors affecting the yield of carbon black are: 
(1) Design of the plant. (2) Weather conditions. (3) 
Pressure of natural gas. (4) Absence of salt water or 
oil or other mineral substance in the natural gas. Some 
of these factors are within the control of the carbon 
black manufacturer. It is seldom, however, that all of 
them are found operating favorably in any individual 
plant. 

Carbon black has been made from artificial gas, but 
the product is much more costly than the natural gas 
carbon blacks. The artificial gases produce glossy, in- 
tense carbon blacks, which in turn result in rather high 
price printing inks. Although there is a considerable 
difference in the quality of the blacks made from artificial 
gas and natural gas, the one could undoubtedly supersede 
the other, if it were absolutely necessary. Carbon black 
could also be made from illuminating, black, furnace, 
producer, or coke oven gas, were it not for the prohibi- 
tive cost of the manufacture of these several gases. 

Experiments looking toward the production of carbon 
black by the explosion of mixtures of acetylene gas and 
air under a known pressure have not been a commercial 
success. The grade of carbon black thus produced has 
also been inferior. As compared to this method of 
production, the straight burning of acetylene gas gives a 
much larger recovery figure, one ranging about 17%, 
and the black thus secured is a superior product. For 
some industrial purposes, such as phonograph records, 
medical hard rubber, stove and shoe polish, some grades 
of printer's ink, and black paint and other pigment, it 
may be possible to substitute lamp black or other kinds 



Our Natural Gas Industries 



91 




A PORTABLE DRILLING RIG 



In the shallow gas fields well drilling is done by 
generally of the type shown above. 



churn' ' drills, 



92 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

of carbon blacks for natural gas carbon black, but up to 
the present time it has not been demonstrated that other 
adequate substitutes exist for the carbon black used in 
the newspaper and book printing ink and the rubber 
tire industries. 

Various attempts to find certain mixtures of fuel and 
gas oil from which a gas could be produced for the manu- 
facture of carbon black have not been commercially 
successful. Other methods of production have also been 
tried and resulted in commercial failure. Chlorine has 
been added to the burning natural gas in an effort to 
secure a greater deposition of carbon, but this has also 
failed. It is difficult to increase the production of carbon 
black, for such processes as do increase the deposit of 
black also increase the amount of black carried away in 
flue gases. It is possible, however, to increase the deposit 
of carbon somewhat by improving the design of plants 
whereby they may be operated more or less independently 
of wind and weather conditions. The process of thermal 
decomposition, now only partially understood, may, 
following further investigation, offer a method of increased 
productivity and conservation in the manufacture of 
carbon black. 

Theory of Formation of Carbon Black 

When natural gas burns in an incomplete supply of air 
or oxygen, the carbon contained is liberated in the heat 
of the flame as a direct decomposition product of the 
unburned gas. The cool metallic depositing surface 
functions to chill the liberated carbon in the flame suffi- 
ciently to prevent its further combustion. A metallic 
surface that is cold may prevent the maximum separation 
of carbon, and on the other hand, if it is too hot, it may 
allow too much carbon to be burned. In this event, the 



Our Natural Gas Industries 



93 



properties of the carbon that remain unconsumed will 
be altered to some degree. The temperature of the 
channels in the process of similar name, is about 300 
degrees. Careful air regulation has much to do with the 
amount of carbon black which will be produced, since too 
much air may readily allow a larger combustion of the 
carbon already affixed to the plate. 




LIBERTY CARBON PLANT IN OPERATION 

The dense sooty fumes are principally composed of carbon black which 
the process is unable to retain. This lost carbon is only a part of the 
waste which is beyond control. 



Some newly developed processes using a retort and re- 
fractory material at about 1,200 degrees centigrade or 
above, give a theoretical yield of about 40 per cent, but 
the carbon black thus produced is not of a salable grade. 
The process is in reality only an experiment which demon- 
strates the separation of carbon and hydrogen by this 
method. It suggests, however, the possibility of an 



94 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

increased production of carbon black. Under the micro- 
scope, lamp black, which is recognized in the industries as 
a somewhat less intense black than carbon black, fre- 
quently appears blacker and more opaque. 

Kentucky Carbon Black Industry 

At the present time there are but two carbon black 
plants in operation in the State of Kentucky. These are 
the Liberty Carbon Company's plant at Langley, Ky., 
the juncture of Wilson's Creek and Right Beaver Creek 
in Floyd County, and the Eastern Carbon Company's 
plant at Osborne on Right Beaver Creek, also in Floyd 
County, Ky. Both of these operations are located in the 
heart of the Beaver Creek gas pool. Each of them will be 
discussed separately. 

Operation of the Liberty Carbon Company 

Oldest in point of establishment, the Liberty Carbon 
Company's plant at Langley, Kentucky, was first put in 
operation in June, 1918. The so-called channel procees cf 
manufacturing carbon black is used. Its operation has 
been practically continuous to date, fourteen separate 
units being operated, with a total daily capacity of 
natural gas consumption of 2,750,000 cubic feet. At 
the time the plant was opened it was supplied with the 
natural gas by the Keystone Gas Company, four wells 
being used which has an open flow at the casinghead of 
approximately 7,000,000 cubic feet of gas per day, and an 
average rock pressure of about 235 pounds. 

By the spring of 1919 these wells had become so 
reduced that the J. Akres well, which is reported to have 
had an open flow of 2,500,000 cubic feet of gas per day and 



Our Natural Gas Industries 



95 



rock pressure of 500 pounds, was connected. At this same 
time it is reported that some of the original wells had 
been invaded by salt water, with a resulting loss of gas 
production. During the first several months of operation 
this carbon plant operated at full capacity. In May, 1920, 
the best estimates available indicate that this plant was 




RAILROAD YARD— LIBERTY CARBON COMPANY, 
FLOYD COUNTY, KENTUCKY 

using 1,500,000 cubic feet of gas from all wells available 
which had an original open flow of about 10,000,000 
cubic feet. The rock pressure during these two years of 
operation had fallen to approximately 115 pounds. 

During the summer of 1920, with very light pressure at 
the plant end of the line, gas depletion began to make 



96 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 




A PORTION OF THE BEAVER CREEK GAS FIELD 

This sketch map shows the location of the principal natural gas produc- 
ing area, the carbon black plants, and the main pipe lines. Only the recent 
or commercially important producing gas wells are shown. A number of 
wells in the old oil and gas pools at Bosco and Garrett are not indicated. 



Our Natural Gas Industries 97 

itself noticeable, and two emergency test wells were put 
down on Turkey Creek to the Berea sand. Each of these 
showed less than 500,000 cubic feet of gas per day, but 
decreased prices and demand made it possible for these 
wells to carry the desired operation of the plant. In August 
1921, an additional test well was put down on Hays Branch 
of Turkey Creek to the Bradley sand, and this well is 
reported to have gauged about 6,000,000 cubic feet of 
gas open flow, although it was only about 1,500 feet from 
a well that was practically dry in the Bradley sand. 
The present weak carbon black market has made it 
possible to hold this splendid well in reserve for a time. 

The Liberty Carbon Company has approximately 
$160,000 invested in this plant, including 4>^ miles of 
gathering pipe line, with which it maintains connections 
with its wells in the field. The company uses twelve 
gas wells which are located on leases owned by the 
Keystone Gas Company. All of these wells are not 
used at the same time, but are drawn upon alternately, 
generally in groups of fours, while the remaining eight 
are allowed to recuperate. 

At the present time the Liberty Carbon Company is 
using an open flow of approximately 2,250,000 cubic feet 
of gas per day, making approximately 4,500 pounds of 
carbon black per day. This production amounts to little 
less than 2 pounds per one thousand cubic feet of gas. 
About 50 per cent of the production of the carbon black 
of this plant is now being shipped to Akron, Ohio, where 
it is used in the manufacture of automobile rubber tires. 
A much smaller fraction is exported to Germany, France, 
England, China and Japan. The present selling price is 
8 cents per pound.* 



Data secured from W. H. Davis, Charleston, West Virginia. 



98 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



Operation Of The Eastern Carbon Company 

This carbon black company is located approximately 
two miles above the Liberty Carbon Company's plant, 
just below the mouth of Goose Creek on Right Beaver 
Creek in Floyd County, Kentucky. It is owned and 
operated by Davis Bros, of Charleston, West Virginia, 
and was put in operation in November, 1920. It makes 
carbon black by what is known as the Revolving Disc 




NOT BATHING — REPAIRING A LEAK 

When a gas main breaks, the blow-out frequently causes a depression 
which soon fills back with water. It makes a disagreeable job for the 
repair man, especially in winter. 

Process. The Eastern Carbon Company owns two wells 
in the Goose Creek region which have a total open flow 
capacity of 15,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas. The 
capacity of the plant itself is about 3,000,000 cubic feet. 
At the present time it is only drawing on one well. The 
average present consumption is 1,500,000 cubic feet of 



Our Natural Gas Industries 99 

gas per day, from which about 3,500 pounds of carbon 
black are produced. This is slightly over 2 pounds of 
carbon black per one thousand cubic feet of gas. 

The original expense of constructing this plant and 
securing its gas reserve amounted to approximately 
$350,000. The present cost of operation is $120 per day. 
This company owns gas fields of its own, and also contracts 
for gas. The plant is being operated on a 50 per cent 
basis at present. The principal part of the Eastern 
Carbon Company's product is used in the manufacture 
of printer's ink.* 

Volume Of Kentucky Carbon Black 

Of the two plants in Floyd County, Kentucky, the 
Eastern Carbon Company is probably more efficient, as 
may be noted by a comparison of the production reports 
of the two, and also a study of carbon black escape fumes 
as seen in the field. The fumes produced by the Eastern 
Carbon Company are not nearly as dense or as large as 
those of the Liberty Carbon Company plant at Langley, 
Ky., though in justice it should be pointed out that the 
capacity and tonnage of the latter plant is much larger than 
the former. The manufacture of carbon black in the 
Kentucky Beaver Creek field, based on the normal 
capacity of the plants in operation, requires approxi- 
mately 1,250,000 thousand cubic feet of gas per year. This 
amount of gas, according to the methods employed, will 
produce about 2,500,000 pounds of carbon black, which 
at 8 cents per pound would be worth about $200,000.00. 
During an extended period of dull carbon black market, 
such as the present, the full amount of gas herein esti- 
mated might not be entirely consumed, and the figures 
of production in such an event should be correspond- 



Data supplied by Mr. Patterson, Superintendent. 



100 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

ingly lessened. If this amount of gas were used, it would 
represent the same amount as would normally be suffi- 
cient to supply about 30,000 domestic natural gas con- 
sumers for an entire year in a city four times the size of 
Lexington, or one three-fourths the size of Louisville. 

Carbon Black vs. Public Utilities 

It is generally conceded that there should not be any 
question from an economic standpoint as to who should 
take the natural gas supply of any field that is tapped 
by a public utilities pipe line. It has been clearly pointed 
out that when public service corporations can afford to 
pay as high as 10 cents per thousand cubic feet on a 
contractural period basis for natural gas, and carbon 
black cannot be sold for more than 7 or 8 cents per pound, 
that it is better business for the owner of natural gas, 
though he be a carbon black manufacturer, to contract this 
gas to the public utility corporation than to consume it 
himself in the production of carbon black. While this 
would seem to be a self-concluding statement based on 
well known economic laws, there are, as a matter of fact, 
many special factors which operate to alter the practical 
operation of the principle. 

The elimination of long transmission lines, their 
expensive construction, and continual maintenance, 
which is one of the large items of cost to any public 
utilities corporation supplying natural gas to a munici- 
pality, gives an initial advantage to the carbon black 
industry. Manufacturers of carbon black are forced 
to expend but relatively small amounts of money for their 
gathering lines, which are always short in length, small 
in size, and inexpensive in construction. It is not in- 
frequently the case that carbon black plants are erected 
on the leases themselves which produce the natural gas 



Our Natural Gas Industries 



101 



used, though generally after a short initial period it is 
found necessary to secure additional supplies of natural 
gas. 

Carbon black plants do not find it necessary to install 
expensive compressor stations. These "booster" plants, 
as well as the main transmission line and the intricate 




LOWERING A TWELVE-INCH LINE 

In this instance a gas pipe line was lowered nearly twenty feet in a 
Jefferson County bottom to avoid artificial drainage. 

system of distribution in a municipality, are heavy 
burdens for any public utilities corporation. These items 
find no counterpart in the carbon black industry. The 
carbon black plant uses the normal rock pressure of the 
well or group of wells under its control, and finds these 



102 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

pressures adequate, whereas such pressures are of rela- 
tively little importance when matched against the counter- 
balancing friction encountered in a long public utilities 
transmission line. 

The total expenditure of capital required for the 
installation of a carbon black plant, is a relatively small 
amount of money as compared to that which is necessary 
for the proper establishment of such an extended public 
utility as a natural gas service corporation. The history 
of the carbon black industry is one of repeated migration. 
Economic stress or the failure of the natural gas supply of 
the locality are the usual causes of these industrial 
movements. A review of the history of public utilities 
corporations reveals quite the opposite. Operating under 
long term franchises or municipal contracts with large 
capital invested, these companies must remain stationary 
within their selected localities. Natural gas service 
corporations must provide adequate supplies of natural 
gas for the present to fulfill their franchise requirements, 
and must also secure sufficient reserve for the future to 
insure the fulfillment of their municipal contracts, as a 
growing depletion of natural gas is recorded in their 
operating fields. These principles of operation are appli- 
cable to every carbon black plant and every natural gas 
public service corporation in not only the State of Ken- 
tucky, but the entire Eastern United States. 



CHAPTER IV 
TREND OF CRITICAL COMMENT 



The degree of success attained in the practical applica- 
tion of any theory is the proper measure of its value. 
The American public of today is amply justified in 
regarding with suspicion all theories which do not find 
a sound and practical substantiation. In recognition of 
the economic importance of the natural gas conservancy 
problem, and with the thought in mind of presenting the 
depletion situation concretely, there has been selected 
from a large correspondence of the writer a number of 
excerpted statements relative to the matter in hand. 
A perusal of these statements will assist greatly in demon- 
trating the magnitude, intricacy, and acuteness of this 
problem which now faces a very large part of our country, 
including the State of Kentucky. 

Technical opinions concerning natural gas conservation 
are herewith advanced, and while somewhat at variance 
as to ways and means, it will be noted that the use of 
industrial gas, especially that for the manufacture of 
carbon black, is generally deplored. The statements of 
carbon black manufacturers and natural gas utility 
corporations are, however, included, so that both sides of 
the case may be seen in their typical presentation. Letters 
from the mayors of cities both large and small facing the 
natural gas shortage problem, all tell the same story of 
inability of public utilities corporations to carry peak 
loads. The gradual introduction of higher rates will also 



104 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



be noted, and with it the general and pressing need of 
effective natural gas conservation measures. The ex- 
cerpted correspondence follows : 




GAS LINE CONSTRUCTION IN JOHNSON COUNTY 

One has but a vague idea of the many difficulties which attend the 
construction of a natural gas pipe line until he goes "on the job." This 
is a pipe line scene in Johnson County in the limestone ledge region. 

Philip S. Smith, Acting Director, Department of the Interior, 
United States Geological Survey: 

"No rule that will cover all cases seems possible. Rather the 
utilization of the gas from each district, or even from each pool, 
must be considered separately if a fair conclusion is to be reached. 
However, there are certain facts that apply everywhere which 
should be constantly borne in mind. 

"Either the public utilities or the carbon black interests can 
use, unaided, more than the total available gas. There is not 
enough for both to operate unrestricted, nor for either to operate 
for an indefinite period. 



Trend of Critical Comment 105 



"Neither industry is indispensable. Artificial gas, coal and 
electricity can take the place of gas for light and heat; lamp black 
can substitute for carbon black in pigments; zinc oxide or other 
filler can replace it more or less satisfactorily in the tire industry; 
and there are substitutes for all its minor applications. Humanity 
will endure if either or both industries are abolished. Relative 
indispensability is a matter of argument. 

" Where the two industries are in conflict, the public utilities 
commonly can invoke the argument of priority, which undoubted- 
ly merits some consideration. Curtailment of the supply of the 
public utilities unquestionably causes more actual suffering than 
does the restriction of the carbon black industry. 

"Where the two industries are established, the public utili- 
ties represent greater investments, and damage to them is there- 
fore a greater financial loss than is damage to the carbon black 
industry. The monetary value of the gas taken from the ground 
is greater when it is used through public utilities than when it is 
burned to make carbon black. 

"All of the above quite strongly favors the public utilities, 
and to this must be added the action of States that have legis- 
lated against the carbon black industry. On the other hand, 
there are fields capable of yielding much gas for which there is no 
market through the public utilities. Drilling activities may 
prohibit storing the gas in the ground, and in such occurrences 
the carbon black plants save great waste and provide a much 
needed commodity. There are fields capable of yielding much 
gas which are so located that there is small likelihood of their 
serving the public through public utilities companies for a decade 
or more, but where the obstacles to the production of carbon 
black may be easily overcome. . . . . " 



H. Foster Bain, Director, Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Mines : 

"The National Committee on Natural Gas Conservation in 
Washington, D. C, June 11, 1920, passed a resolution which 
reads as follows : 



'Resolved, that carbon black be made when gas is pro- 
duced in isolated sections with no present or reasonably 
prospective market for gas being produced, when gasoline 
has been extracted and when practical and modern and 
improved methods are used.' 

"The question of the utilization of natural gas for the manu- 
facture of carbon black is necessarily a local one and can only be 
decided after the various economic conditions in the district 
under consideration are carefully considered. ... ." 



106 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



J. W. Hassell, Chief Supervisor, Oil and Gas Division, Railroad 
Commission of Texas : 

'/The use of natural gas for the making of carbon black is 
prohibited in this state except as permitted by Sections 2, 3, 4 
and 5 of Rule 41 appearing on page 21 of our Oil and Gas Circular 
Number 12 enclosed herewith. Our Statute, being Article 1 of 
an Act of the 36th Legislature of this State, and appearing on 




NOT A QUARRY— A PIPE LINE 

The reason for excessive cost in gas pipe line construction is made 
plain by this view on the head of Raccoon Creek. 



page 1 of the circular, and Rule 1 , appearing on page 8 prohibiting 
the wasteful use of gas. Rule 41 with reference to carbon black 
was adopted after a general hearing, at which hearing the Rail- 
road Commission found as a fact that the burning of natural gas 
in the manufacture of carbon black was a wasteful use of the 
same. Since the Statute prevents absolutely the wasteful use of 
gas and since the Railroad Commission has determined as a fact 
after hearing that the burning of same in the manufacture of 
carbon black is a wasteful use of gas, the writer has uniformly 



Trend of Critical Comment 107 



held that it is not within the power of the Railroad Commission 
to grant a permit except as provided in the three sections men- 
tioned and indicated by the blue pencil mark on the margin of 
the circular. 

"It is my opinion, as it was that of my predecessors, Dr. 
George C. Butts and Judge S. P. Sadler, that the use of natural 
gas for the manufacture of carbon black should not be permitted 
where it is practicable to apply the gas to industrial enterprise 
and domestic use. Where a field is so isolated or so small that 
it is not feasible to carry the gas to industrial centers, or where 
no market can be had for the same or expected for many years, 
it might be permissible to allow its use for this purpose. It has 
been contended by some of the advocates for its use for the pur- 
pose mentioned that the product manufactured would realize 
more money per thousand feet for the gas than it could be sold 
for in domestic consumption, but this ignores the great value of 
the gas to the community itself. It seems to me that those 
charged with the administration of laws touching this question 
should keep in mind the value of the article to the community 
rather than to the individual. If gas could be utilized in the 
manufacture of diamonds, it might be worth, say two dollars 
per thousand feet, and a fair price for it in commercial use would 
be, say fifty cents. The advocates of its use in what may be 
termed wasteful processes have claimed that since it realized 
two dollars per thousand feet in the manufacture of diamonds, 
and only fifty cents for domestic use, it would not be a wasteful 
use of the gas to devote it to the first purpose. In my opinion it 
would be a wasteful utilization of the gas, since it would deprive 
practically all of the people of its use for the manufacture of a 
non-essential " 

C. W. Shannon, Director, Oklahoma Geological Survey : 

". . . . In Oklahoma, the Corporation Commission has 
ruled against the use of gas for the manufacture of carbon black. 
There has never at any time been more than two or three plants 
in operation in the State to my knowledge and there is one plant 
operating at the present time. We have had numerous inquiries 
in regard to the establishing of carbon black plants, but as the 
ruling of the Corporation Commission is against such industries, 
we have not been in a position to recommend an attempt to estab- 
lish additional plants. 

"Personally I believe that under certain conditions carbon 
black plants should be permitted to use the surplus of gas in 
certain fields. There is no question but that the methods used by 
the plants in operation have been very wasteful of the natural 
gas supplies and from a conservation standpoint the industry 
cannot be encouraged. However, there are many areas where 
the gas is not being used for commercial purposes, and in such 
localities carbon black plants could readily secure all the gas 
needed without in any way decreasing the amount of fuel gas. 



108 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



"It is the purpose of the Conservation Department of our 
Corporation Commission to 'shut in' any and all gas wells where 
gas is encountered so that in every way possible the gas may be 
conserved. During the past few years the recommendations 




"BLOWING A GASSER" 

This gas well is located on Bullskin Creek in Clay County, 
commercialized at present. 



It is not 



of the Corporation Commission and the work of the U. S. Bureau 
of Mines has conserved millions of cubic feet of gas in Oklahoma, 
but on the other hand there are many localities where sufficient 



Trend of Critical Comment 109 



gas is going to waste to run carbon black plants of considerable 
capacity. Under such conditions I would favor the establishing 
of carbon black plants under strict regulations as to the extent 
to which the gas could be used. 

" While Oklahoma is still producing a large volume of gas it 
has been necessary during the past two years to take urgent 
action in regard to conserving the supply for domestic use, and 
industries in general have been very largely cut off from the use 
of natural gas " 

I. C. White, State Geologist, West Virginia Geological Survey: 

". . . . The proposition is a difficult one to solve. My 
own opinion is, that where there is no market for the natural gas 
that has been developed through drilling and no prospect of any 
immediate market like the great Monroe field of Louisiana, 
State Public Service Commissions should not prevent the utiliza- 
tion of such natural gas for carbon black purposes. While it is 
true that all of the hydrogen and much of the carbon is lost in 
the manufacture of carbon black, yet the net result is a profit of 
several cents per thousand cubic feet to the manufacturer of 
carbon black. This latter substance also subserves many use- 
ful purposes and its field of utilization is constantly widening. 
So that from this point of view it has become one of our necessary 
industries. In our State there has never been any legislation on 
the subject, and the problem has practically solved itself, since 
when natural gas became too valuable to utilize in the carbon 
black industries, the latter have sold their gas production to 
natural gas pipe lines, and moved on to other states like Loui- 
siana and other regions where natural gas could be secured cheap- 

ly " 

Wilbur A. Nelson, State Geologist, Tennessee Geological Survey: 

" . . . . I have always felt that in a state that is thickly 
populated, or in a section where natural gas occurs in centers of 
population, that all natural gas should be conserved for use by 
public utilities. Such use would make your gas last for a longer 
period of time and be of more benefit to the people of your state, 
as natural gas generally decreases the cost of heating and the 
cost of living to the people living in the radius served. 

"The use of natural gas for making carbon black does not 
benefit the individual people of the state except in a far fetched 
manner in what might be shown to be a slight decrease in the 
cost of printing newspapers, etc. From the standpoint of taxa- 
tion I should think that all facts would be in favor of doing away 
with the carbon black interests and having all gas used by the 
public utility corporations, as this use would bring in a greater 
taxable return to the state on this natural resource. 

"It seems to me that if carbon black interests are to exiss 
they must look to those areas where there are enormous gas poolt 



110 Natural Gas of Kentucky 



like Homer, La., and where the population of the district is sparse 
as compared to the population existing along the Ohio River. 

R. C. Moore, State Geologist, State Geological Survey of 
Kansas: 

" . . . . the very large public interests of consumers 
of natural gas, particularly the domestic consumers, have 
higher interest, and right over any manufacturing interest. 
The policy guiding or tending to guide control of natural gas 
in Kansas is restricting industrial consumption, so as to con- 
serve a supply for domestic use." 

G. B. Morgan, State Geologist, State of Wyoming: 

" . . . . The so-called anti-carbon black law (of Wyo- 
ming), Chapter 275, page 60, declares that the consumption of 
natural gas in which the heat units are not fully utilized to be a 
wasteful use and to be unlawful where the sources of supply are 
located within 10 miles of an incorporated town or industrial plant. 
It was aimed solely at the manufacture of carbon black and is 
the only law that we have governing its manufacture. Carbon 
black, therefore, can be manufactured from gas outside of a 10 
mile limit without violation of the law. 

"The particular case which instigated the law was the carbon 
plant at Cowley, Wyoming, which took its gas from the Byron 
field, thereby endangering the future of the field and the interests 
of the private consumers and other industries. 

"The position that this office is taking in regard to the carbon 
black industry is one of strict enforcement of the law as it stands 
for several reasons. First, the Midland Carbon Company in its 
operations in the Byron field wastef ully used an immense quantity 
of gas that could have been put to better purposes and continued 
to do so a long time after the law was passed and even after the 
U. S. Supreme Court decided that the law was constitutional, 
they still ignored the statute until forced to close down by action 
of the Court. Their tactics were reprehensible both in their 
flagrant violation of the statute and in their conduct at legislative 
meetings. 

"Personally, I believe that under certain conditions and cir- 
cumstances carbon black may be manufactured from natural 
gas without injuring the resources of the commonwealth and in 
fact as a conservation measure. There are a number of fields in 
our State producing or capable of producing gas for which there is 
no market at the present time and probably will not be for a 
great many years. Wherever these fields have been drilled into 
by companies looking for oil, there has been a great waste of gas, 
and there will continue to be a waste of gas as long as the wells 
remain unplugged. There are several such fields in this State 
and it would be actually a conservation measure to put in a carbon 
plant together with a gasoline extraction plant to utilize the gas 
that is now going to waste. . . . ' ' . 



Trend of Critical Comment 



111 



J. A. Bownocker, State Geologist, Geological Survey of Ohio: 

"Natural gas has not been used in Ohio for many years for 
the manufacture of lamp black and it is therefore not one of our 




A TEMPLE HILL GASSER "CLOSED IN" 

This Barren County gasser has been correctly closed, tubed and 
anchored. A blow cock is provided and a rock pressure gauge has been 
affixed. 



troubles. In my judgment the states should forbid the use of 
natural gas for such a purpose. I believe that in West Virginia 



112 Natural Gas of Kentucky 



the carbon black companies own their own gas territory and pro- 
duce their own supply of fuel and I am not sure that they could 
be prevented from using the gas for this purpose. As you know, 
the Carnegie Steel Co. has obtained gas in a similar manner for 
many years and uses it in the manufacture of steel. These are 
great abuses, but our civilization does not seem to be far enough 
advanced to stop the practice. 

"In Ohio the State is doing practically nothing to conserve the 
remaining gas supply. The companies, however, are working 
faithfully with that end in view " 

George H. Ashley, State Geologist, Bureau of Topographic & 
Geological Survey, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: 

" While a small amount of carbon black is made in this State, 
it is my impression that no question has been raised regarding 
the matter. In general however, I am inclined to believe that 
the position taken by many of the states is correct — that no gas 
should be used for the making of carbon black, except such gas as 
will not pay for piping to points of use — or in other words, such 
gas only for which there is no market. 

u In this State (Pennsylvania), the price for gas for domestic 
use is increasing so rapidly, that that in itself is bound to solve 
the problem, as it is gradually approaching the price of manufac- 
tured gas. Wells which would therefore not pay for piping, 
would hardly be large enough to pay for establishing a carbon 
black plant " 



Status of Natural Gas Shortage in Cities 

The pinch of natural gas hunger has already visited 
itself upon many of the largest municipalities of the Ohio 
Valley and adjacent regions. This is the case in Hunt- 
ington, Cincinnati, Louisville, Columbus, Cleveland and 
many others less important cities. The aggregate urban 
population affected by this growing shortage totals in 
round numbers 2,750,000 people. Of these 610,000 are 
actual purchasing heads of families, the consuming unit, 
and have invested on the average $100 apiece in natural 
gas heating, cooking and lighting appliances. The total 
investment of the domestic consumer amounts to the 



Trend of Critical Comment 113 

stupendous figure of $61,000,000.00, as may be gleaned 
from the following table : 

Natural Gas Consumers and Investments. 



Ohio 

West Virginia 

Kentucky 


Domestic 
Consumers 

385, 000 

150, 000 

75, 000 


Capital 
Invested 

$38, 500, 000 

15, 000, 000 

7, 500, 000 








610, 000 


$61,000,000 



A single separate item of $325,000,000.00, may con- 
servatively be taken as the investment in producing gas 
wells, pipe lines and plants by the several public utilities 
corporations supplying this large and scattered popula- 
tion. The total investment involved in supplying and 
consuming natural gas in this region amounts therefore 
to $386,000,000.00. 

This large investment faces a rapid depreciation, as 
do all of the producing industries dependent upon it for 
their markets, if some effective measure of conservation 
of the supplies of natural gas remaining in the ground in 
the southern Appalachian region is not introduced to con- 
trol the production and consumption. The tremendous 
waste of natural gas must be stopped, and stopped at 
once, at all points from the producing well to and includ- 
ing the consuming appliance. 

That the natural gas situation is an acute one, that the 
shortage is real and widespread in its effect, and that any 
large replenishment of the supply is impossible, may be 
readily and authentically gathered from the excerpts of 
a number of letters recently received by the writer from 
mayors of cities, public service commissioners and others, 
well informed in these matters. These excerpts, which 



114 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

have been taken from a large correspondence of similar 
trend, follow: 

C. W. Campbell, Mayor, City of Huntington, West Virginia: 

"I quite agree with you that the time is now ripe when the 
people of the cities using natural gas should agitate the question 
of conserving the supply for domestic use. So far the City of 
Huntington has taken no action in the matter, but the United 
Fuel Gas Company has been calling public attention to the fact 
that the supply is being rapidly depleted, and they are now 
asking an increase of rates because of that fact, and our Public 
Service Commission is hearing their petition, but our people are 
resisting their proposed increase " 



N. L. Pierson, Secretary to John Galvin, Mayor, City of Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio: 

". . . . We Cincinnatians realize that the natural gas 
supply will very soon affect us greatly here, on account of a 
shortage of same. A movement is on foot now, that will doubtless 
raise the price that citizens will pay for gas. It is felt by some 
that if the price of gas is raised, a smaller amount will be used, 
and, therefore, the gas supply will be preserved for a certain 
length of time. 

"I do not think much of this argument, but at the same time 
we have not the slightest doubt but that, in a few months, we 
will be paying a certain price for the first thousand feet of gas 
consumed, a slightly higher price for the second thousand feet, 
etc., for the third, fourth and fifth thousand feet used " 



W. H. Duffy, Director of Public Service, City of Columbus, Ohio: 

" . , . . No steps have been taken by the City of 
Columbus toward conservation (of natural gas), except that the 
city council has granted an increased rate to the gas company, 
they having made the statement that the only method of conser- 
vancy was an increased rate which would cause users to install 
devices that would insure the use of less quantity than formerly 
consumed. . , . . " 



John D. Marshall, Commissioner of Franchises, City of Cleveland, 
Ohio: 

" . . . . Every one, I take it, is interested in the 
conservation not only of natural gas, but of all natural resources, 
and those cities which are using natural gas are, of course, par- 



Trend of Critical Comment 



115 




GAS PIPE LINES MUST CROSS CREEKS 

One of the obstacles in pipe line construction is the large number of 
creeks of Eastern Kentucky. Here a twelve-inch line is being laid beneath 
the creek bed. 



116 Natural Gas of Kentucky 



ticularly interested in the conservation of that fuel. In a rate 
ordinance which this city enacted on December 20, 1920, pro- 
visions have been made for conserving the natural gas by limiting 
industrial use during certain seasons of the year, and permitting 
the gas company to refuse service where improper appliances are 
used. The gas company, however, has refused to accept this 
ordinance, and on the contrary has attacked these provisions in 
the courts, claiming they are unfair and impracticable. 

"The gas company in Cleveland claims the only conservation 
method which will prove effective is a sliding scale upward increase 
in price. To this proposition the City has not agreed " 

Huston Quin, Mayor, City of Louisville, Kentucky: 

" . . . . The conservation of our natural resources is 
a subject in which all good citizens are interested, and one of 
the most valuable of our resources is gas. Natural gas is the ideal 
fuel. It cannot be replaced by any artificial product, which even 
approximates it in quality or in price. Many natural gas fields 
are being rapidly depleted, and it behooves us all to conserve it 
in every way possible. 

"We are doing everything we can to conserve the supply of 
natural gas in the city of Louisville. Every effort is being made 
to serve our citizens with gas at as near a uniform pressure as is 
possible, to avoid all leaks, and to advise the consumers as to the 
efficiency of their appliances. Furthermore, the mixing of artificial 
gas with our supply of natural gas at an increased rate for large 
consumers the past two winters served as a conservation measure, 
though it was primarily necessary to insure us an adequate supply. 
The pipe line which conveys gas from the field is in excellent 
condition, and the line loss is kept very low. 

"The greatest opportunity for gas conservation at this 
time, therefore, is in the field. Gas is being wasted by oil well 
operators and oil drillers, but the greatest menace to the con- 
servation and proper drainage of a gas field is the carbon plant. 
The process for obtaining carbon black is very wasteful, not more 
than 5 per cent of the carbon content of the gas being recovered. 
Furthermore, a carbon plant can utilize gas at a much lower 
pressure at the well than is necessary to make the gas available 
for pumping into a pipe line for transportation. Such a plant in a 
field, even though it has a very small acreage under lease, can 
soon destroy the field, and unless the utility company can procure 
every bit of acreage in the field, which is usually almost im- 
possible, the company is constantly menaced by the possibility 
that any little tract in the field may become the site of a carbon 
black plant. 

"Carbon black has its uses in our industrial life, and in fact 
it is superior in some lines of manufacture to any other product. 
But there are many gas fields remote from our cities, or the pipe 
lines which convey gas to our cities, that could be used for the 



Trend of Critical Comment 117 



manufacture of carbon black, and in my opinion the installation 
of carbon black plants should be restricted to such fields, and 
thus the conservation of our supply of natural gas for domestic 
use be given a decided impetus " 

D. D. Smith, Mayor, City of Frankfort, Kentucky. 

".•*.. our natural gas supplies are very limited in 
nature and are being rapidly drawn upon by both public utilities 
corporations and manufacturers of carbon black. I don't think 
the public utilities corporations waste much gas, but I under- 
stand the efficiency of the carbon black manufacturers is very low. 

"The amount of gas now being used in Kentucky in the man- 
ufacture of carbon black would supply a city of considerable size 
and, if conserved, would put off the day when natural gas will 
have to be supplemented by artificial gas. 

"The wasteful use of natural gas by domestic consumers is 
another great leak in the industry, and, although this is paid 
for by the consumer, it is nevertheless a great drain on natural 
gas reserves, and will accelerate their early depletion. 

"The natural gas situation in Kentucky, from a standpoint 
of domestic consumers generally, is a serious one. Kentucky has 
never produced as much gas as it uses. West Virginia, which has 
given us its overproduction, is now beginning to feel her depletion 
rapidly, and in a short time we will be forced to supply all of our 
gas ourselves or go without it " 

Grant P. Hall, Mayor, City of Charleston, Charleston, West 
Virginia : 

" .... Up to the present time there has been noth- 
ing done in the city of Charleston looking towards the con- 
servation of our natural gas. We have many large gas fields 
all around us and on account of it being so plentiful our people 
apparently have not fully realized the importance of the con- 
servation of this resource. 

"We have quite a number of carbon black factories near 
Charleston. A few years ago the State Legislature passed a 
law known as the Steptoe Bill, which imposed a tax on gas 
exported from this State. The gas companies of West Virginia 
attacked the constitutionality of this law and recently suc- 
ceeded in their contentions. 

"Personally I feel that it is highly important to do some- 
thing to prevent the extravagant waste of our gas " 

F. O. Eichelberger, City Manager, Dayton, Ohio: 

"The matter of gas consumption has been in the past one 
of considerable moment here in Dayton, due to the inability of 
The Dayton Gas Company to furnish an adequate supply to its 
consumers, or to maintain the required pressure. The question 



118 Natural Gas of Kentucky 



first came up in 1920. After numerous conferences between the 
city officials and those of the gas company, Samuel S. Wyer, 
Consulting Engineer, of Columbus, Ohio, was engaged by the 
city to make an impartial investigation as to the reasons therefor. 

"In summing up his report, we learn that Dayton was merely 
one of a large number of towns depending on the rapidly declining 
natural gas supply. It was recognized that the situation was 
acute, and will become worse each year; that there has been a 
marked decline in rock pressure and volume of old and new wells, 
the number of acres of natural gas land held, and the number of 
producing wells per domestic consumer. 

"Simultaneous with this decline there has been a large 
increase in the number of domestic consumers, domestic co n- 
sumers demands for gas service, compressing station capacity 
made necessary by rapidly declining rock pressure, purchase 
price of gas in field, compressing station operating cost, cost per 
million cubic feet of open flow capacity of new wells, and in well 
operating cost and taxes. 

"The conclusions reached in this report were that the City 
should prohibit the use of natural gas in wasteful appliances; 
that the Dayton Gas Company should carry out Recommendation 
No. 17 of the National Committee on Natural Gas Conservation; 
that the names of all industrial consumers should be secured and 
made public so that they can be shut off during the peak load 
during the cold season; that all stove dealers should raise the 
burners on all cook stoves before sale, and to buy only approved 
stoves for the future; that an intensive campaign to teach the 
public how to curtail waste in their homes and get the most out 
of the gas they are receiving should be conducted. 

"It was felt that after these recommendations were carried 
out the quality of the service would be greatly improved, and that 
unless strict attention was paid to all conservation recommenda- 
tions, then, in so far as this city was concerned, the benefits of 
natural gas would be a thing of the past in a few years. 

"This the city did, through propaganda over our own signa- 
ture, as well as an educational campaign, indorsed and aided by 
us and carried on by the local gas company, and in addition, 
passed an ordinance fixing the price of gas at a rate over the 
previous ordinances, all of which we believe greatly benefited the 
local situation. The pressure required was reduced two ounces, 
so that this sums up in a few words our local experience. 

"We believe the citizens are fully aware of the decreasing 
facilities of the natural gas companies and are conserving 
wherever possible its usage. This winter, as well as last, being 
open winters in this locality, aided in this conservation, and yet, 
we hesitate to state what conditions might be in the future. 
Seemingly, the only solution being the creation of an artificial 
supply when the natural gas has become exhausted 



Trexd of Critical Comment 119 



E. N. Jones, Secretary to W. A. Magee, Mayor, City of Pitts- 
burgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: 

" . . . . the city of Pittsburgh has done nothing in 
the matter of the conservation of natural gas. What waste 
has taken place in the use of this commodity has occurred 
principally in the gas fields near which are located the waste- 
ful carbon black plants. 

"At the present time the rates for natural gas in the city 
of Pittsburgh have reached the point where it has become 
cheaper to use coal for household heating purposes than gas. 

"Relative to the manufacture of carbon black, it may 
interest you to know that the Guffey-Gillespie Gas Products 
Corporation, of this city, has under way the construction of 
two plants in the South for the manufacture of carbon black 
under new methods which will allow them to obtain approxi- 
mately ten pounds of carbon black per thousand cubic feet of 
gas as against one pound obtained under present methods." 

Ralph Arnold, Consulting Geologist, New York City: 

" . . . . the oil and gas industry offers an illustration 
of two of our wasting assets that have been subject to a prodigal 
use and are still subject to much abuse in spite of the warnings 
sounded by those private and government geologists who have 
dared to face the ridicule of the operators and even some of their 
own profession. It is true that the quantitative estimates have 
varied and have as a rule been revised upward as more and more 
data became available, but still in the main the effort to bring 
home the limited character of our oil and gas deposits to both 
those who produce and utilize these substances, seems fully 
justified by the trend of events. In the case of the most prolific 
of the Mexican oil fields, a great saving of both oil and invest- 
ments would have been accomplished had the warnings of the 
economic geologist been heeded. 

"In view of the good that has been accomplished in the 
past through the work of experts in pointing out, either quanti- 
tatively or abstractly, the limits of our mineral or other natural 
resources, it seems almost superfluous to attempt a justification 
of these efforts or to suggest that it is not only the right of the 
economic geologist but his duty to make such estimates and state- 
ments as will safeguard the proper recovery and utilization of 
our wasting natural assets."* 

W. H. Davis, Cons. Eng., Eastern Carbon Black Co., Charleston, 

West Virginia : 

"We have been manufacturing carbon black at Osborne, 
Kentucky, for the last twelve months, and have a production at 
present of 3200 pounds per day, which will be increased to about 



* "One Duty of the Economic Geologist," Economic Geology, Volume 
XVI, Number 8, December, 1921. 



120 Natural Gas of Kentucky 



double that amount as soon as the additional units we are now- 
putting in are in operation. 

"We cannot say exactly the amount of gas required for each 
pound, as we are not metering the gas for that plant. We endeavor 
to waste as little gas as possible. Our factories are equipped with 
electric lighting system for both our plant and dwelling houses, 
and we do not use any steam boilers except in connection with the 
drilling. We use precaution in regard to line leaks, and do not 
blow our lines in the open as we have drips to take care of the 
water, and seldom open the tops of any of our wells. We are 
using the gas at Osborne, Kentucky, from two wells, either one 
of which will run our plant to its full capacity. 

"There has always been considerable agitation in regard to 
the waste of gas in producing carbon black, as the carbon in the 
natural gas weighs many times as much as the product we take 
from it. This carbon, however, is not what is known to the trade 
as carbon black. 

"..'.. We could produce a great deal more weight 
with a thousand feet of gas than we are producing, but we have 
learned from experience that when we produce much more than 
two pounds to the thousand cubic feet the quality is so poor that 
it is almost unmarketable. 

"While carbon gas black is used for paint, rubber compounds, 
phonograph records, shoe and stove polish, etc., seven-eighths 
of the black made by the Eastern Carbon Black Company for 
the last twenty years has been used for printer's ink. It seems 
strange to us that there would be such an adverse opinion to an 
industry that produces a product that has no substitute and is 
absolutely necessary for the welfare of humanity, as millions and 
millions of people receive a direct benefit of the products of 
carbon gas black, while only a few thousands receive benefits 
from gas where used for domestic consumption." 

A. B. Koontz, General Consul, Associated Producers of Natural 
Gas Carbon Black, Charleston, West Virginia: 

" . . . . there should be used the common sense 
methods of preventing waste such as flambeau lights, line and 
connection leakage, open flow of wells for indefinite periods, 
improper plugging of wells when abandoned, improper casing 
to prevent water from getting into producing sands, etc. 

"In the States mentioned (Southern Appalachian Common- 
wealths) the statutes could be much improved. Indiana has 
some good laws as have Oklahoma and Texas. Yet in Texas 
there is now being wasted a great deal of natural gas. The 
law requiring the cementing of the hole at the top of the sand 
permitting it to stand for a number of days to "set" before 
drilling in, is in my judgment a very good law. In a formation 
such as they have there, it is impossible to safely anchor 
casing except in this way. 



Trexd of Critical Comment 121 



"While Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia have some 
statutes for the purpose of preventing waste in connection 
with the drilling and operating of oil and gas wells, they are 
heeded, generally speaking, as the operator sees fit to heed 
them, and when not heeded there is no practical way to prose- 
cute the violator. And besides this when the violation is made 
the field may be irreparably damaged and a punishment of 
the violator will avail nothing to the public in the way of gas 
conservation. 

"The companies solely in the oil and gas business are very 
likely to take whatever steps necessary to protect the strata 
from which production comes, even though they may be lax 
about conserving the products above ground, but the wild- 
catter or promoter will take no steps, unless forced to do so, 
to protect the oil and gas strata, the coal seams or the surface. 
In the event of a strike the promoter handles his product in 
such a way as to get the most money in the shortest time, and 
with no regard to the effect upon the field in which he is 
operating. 

"A State Inspector, such as is provided for in Indiana or 
a practical man as the representative of the Utilities Com- 
mission to see that the laws herein mentioned are enforced, 
would be welcomed by the substantial operators, should be 
provided for the promoters, and would be of untold service to 
the public in prolonging the life of gas fields. 

"All of the above applies to the production and distribu- 
tion of gas and is important, but just as important is some 
education to awaken the public to the fact that natural gas is 
being wasted by it, and to the fact that in order to have 
natural gas for any great number of years, it must 'pay the 
price.' 

"Usually when natural gas is first furnished a community 
it is at such a low price that no attention whatever is paid to 
the amount used. If it is not sold on a flat or monthly rate it 
is sold at a few cents per M cubic feet, and in either event it 
is not too costly to have had burners, flambeau lights, etc. 
Various compilations of figures for different towns show that 
as the price of gas goes up the quantity used by each con- 
sumer diminishes. 

"In order for a public service company to make a fair 
return on investment, consumers who will take gas during the 
entire year must be furnished and this means the furnishing 
of factories. Domestic consumers, who use a substantial 
amount only for three or four months during the year must 
either pay such a price that will justify conservation for 
domestic purposes only, or permit all-year consumers to 
rapidly exhaust the supply. 

"Our utility commissions, of course, can regulate the use 
of gas as between domestic and factory consumers. To this 
might be added the power, if it does not already exist (exer- 



122 Natural Gas of Kentucky 



cised by Mr.. Gregory during the war) to regulate the use of 
gas as between domestic consumers. (The legality of this 
might be questioned.) 

"In summarizing I would say: 

"Correct the present statutes so that waste in any sub- 
stantial quantities will be made unlawful. 

"Provide a practical way for the enforcement of the 
statutes. 

"Educate the public so that it may appreciate the fact 
that natural gas will not last forever, and that there is a duty 
on it, as well as on the producing and distributing companies 
to conserve. 

"The producing and distributing companies owe a duty to 
the public and the public likewise owes a duty to those 
companies. ,, 

T. J. Tonkin, Supt. Central Kentucky Natural Gas Company, 
Mt. Sterling, Ky. : 

"As to the profligate use of gas, I have observed practices 
that, to me at least, seem criminal. All too frequent is the con- 
tinuous use of open torches, or flambeaux, by farmers having 
wells on their premises, as a means of reducing the well pressure, 
millions of feet of gas going to waste when a twenty dollar regular 
would handle it properly and without waste. Free and unlimited 
use of gas as a part of the consideration to the land owner should 
not be permitted. Careless and indifferent ways of tubing and 
packing when wells are drilled in new territory seems not to be 
the exception, and enough gas is daily going to waste in this way 
in some of the small fields not as yet connected to pipe lines to 
supply a fairly good sized town." 

Donald McDonald, Vice President and General Manager, Louis- 
ville Gas and Electric Company, Louisville, Ky. : 

" . . . . The conservation of natural gas I consider an 
exceedingly important matter. Where communities have become 
accustomed to the use of natural gas, especially for cooking, the 
failure of it causes an amount of suffering and inconvenience 
which is truly surprising. Any steps which can be taken to pre- 
vent the waste of gas and the consequent hastening of the ex- 
haustion of the fields, will be welcomed by this company. . . ." 



Trend of Critical Comment 123 



George Otis Smith, Director, United States Geological Survey: 

The largest degree of national usefulness will be won from 
our mineral resources only through the highest industrial effi- 
ciency, which is in turn secured by engineering advance and the 
linking up of mechanical power and man power. This means to 
the end is typically American, but too much emphasis cannot be put 
upon the importance of governmental action that is constructive 
in its cooperation with industry. While, unfortunately, public 
regulation seems to start usually with measures that are wholly 
restrictive in effect, because too often abuse of privilege has led 
to the legislative action, yet regulatory measures can be truly 
promotive, as has been shown in the recent cooperation of busi- 
ness and the Government. Public interest and private interest 
in the long run are less antagonistic than either the captain of 
industry or the public servant has suspected. It is true that 
the measure of economic worth must be the welfare of the individ- 
ual, the community, and the people of the Nation, and not the 
dollar of profit to the corporation or the State, yet only a success- 
ful industry can be made to serve both owner and workman and 
the public as well.* 



* "The Economic Limits to Domestic Independence in Minerals," 
George Otis Smith, Mineral Resources of the United States, 1917, Part I, 
p. 6a, pub. Dec. 28, 1918. 



CHAPTER V 
NATURAL GAS CONSERVATION 

Problems involving the conservation of natural gas 
and mineral resources are intricate ones. Great difficulties 
confront the serious and impartial investigator at every 
turn, for although the general principles which should 
govern the situation are for the most part well defined, 
the special conditions which surround each problem are 
individual to it, and require a separate solution. What 
is true in principle of the conservation of natural resources 
as a whole, is also true in the same way of the conservation 
of natural gas, one of these resources, in particular. 

It has been stated that, "in reference to natural gas, 
a great and pressing necessity is to stop its appalling waste 
by enacting and enforcing proper legislation. This ideal 
fuel should be used with the severest economy in order to 
prolong its life, which will be brief at best."* The study 
of existing conditions of supply and demand and their 
probable future trend of relationship, affords a basis for 
the consideration of the problems surrounding the 
conservation of natural gas. It is definitely known 
that the natural gas supplies once considered illimitable 
are in fact very limited, and rapidly approaching exhaus- 
tion. The word rapidly may be used in its fullest sense, 
for there is probably no other natural resource in all the 
world, certainly not in the United States, which is as near 
commercial exhaustion as is natural gas. 

Regardless of what his special interest may be, 
whether consumer or non-consumer of natural gas, paid 
servant director of a public service corporation, or 



* Conservation of Natural Resources in the United States, by C. R. 
Van Hise. 



Natural Gas Conservation 



125 



owner of a carbon black factory, the man of broad judg- 
ment can have no fight with the principles of true conser- 
vation. The ideals of conservation do not allow of an idle 




WHAT THE CONSUMER DOES NOT KNOW 

Practically all of the gas main leaks are difficult and disagreeable to 
repair. Yet repairs should be made promptly to avoid great economic loss 
of natural gas. 

hoarding of the volume of any natural resource, nor the 
perpetuation of capitalistic monopolies, under the cloak of 
future public interest. True conservation implies a wise 
and continuous use of natural resources, a use which will 



126 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

be efficient in the highest degree, while it extends far into 
the future the period of life of the resource involved. 
Conservation also implies the principle of equity — the 
greatest good for the greatest number — and it is along 
this last line that some of the most delicate and intricate 
questions of the whole problem of conservation arise. 

In the natural gas industry, the fiercely competing 
interests, recognizing in many cases the validity and merits 
of their opponents' contentions, present their cases much 
as do opposing counsel. The endeavor is made to offer 
the most plausible reasons for their own position and at 
the same time to belittle and depreciate that of their 
opponents. The actuating motives thus unfortunately 
become selfish ones, backed by monetary consideration. 
Little thought is given to a fair and impartial solution of 
the problem from the standpoint of the best interests of 
the general public. 

The producer of natural gas on leased property is not 
concerned, does not want to be concerned, at all in the 
matter of the most efficient present and extended use of 
the supplies which he controls. His interest is based on 
that unsound yet widely popular principle of American 
business which requires the largest possible return in the 
shortest possible period. Naturally, to gain his ends he 
cannot consider any broad principle of conservation, as 
his selfish motives necessarily imply a disregard of true 
conservation. 

Ownership of Natural Resources 

It is a nice question as to whom the stores of natural 
gas really belong. Just how far the principle of public 
interest, based on ultimate consumption, may enter, as 
compared with that of individual ownership, based on 
discovery and exploitation, is at the present stage of our 
social development, uncertain. If we follow the statutes, 



Natural Gas Conservation 



127 




READY FOR THE GAS MAIN 

A twelve-foot ditch in Eastern Kentucky prepared for the laying of the 
large transmission line of a Central Kentucky city. 



128 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

we cannot do much more than recognize the right of the 
discoverer and owner, though we may plead quite 
properly the sound principles of public interest. Having 
produced natural gas, in Kentucky it is the owner's full 
and legal right to dispose of it or use it in almost any way 
that he chooses. In fact there is nothing to prevent a 100 
per cent waste of the natural gas under any lease in 
Kentucky, if the owner chooses to allow it. While the 
regulations governing natural gas production are plainly 
stated in the statutes, it may be said in truth that they 
are easily circumvented in the field. 

In spite of our inelastic intellectual and legal inher- 
itances, there are many signs of an awakening conscious- 
ness among the people of Kentucky as to the ultimate 
ownership of the limited natural resources. Various 
items in the current press, speakers before public audiences 
and legislators in our General Assembly are gradually 
developing and popularizing the idea of a fundamental 
social interest in all irreplaceable natural resources of 
Kentucky. The trend of this new conception is much 
higher and its ultimate possibilities are vastly greater 
than that which until yesterday was defined as personal 
ownership. Quite recently a representative from a great 
oil producing county in Kentucky stood in the House at 
Frankfort and proposed a small tonnage tax on coal, 
giving as his reason the fact that the men who chiefly 
profited by it did not produce it; they simply mined it, 
sold it, and left nothing in its place. A contemporaneous 
writer discussing the great rock asphalt deposits of 
Kentucky has recently said that the people of this state 
have a right to have their rock asphalt developed so that 
they may use it more widely. 

There is much in the growing public opinion of today 
which indicates a tendency to regard the personal owner- 
ship of mineral resources much in the light of custodian- 



Natural Gas Conservation 129 

ship. It is pointed out that the value of all mineral re- 
sources is created by society in general. The ultimate 
consumer of every ton of coal, every gallon of oil and every 
pound of metal is the one who makes the mining of these 
mineral resources possible and profitable. A ton of coal 
may not always be sold as coal. A ton of iron ore has not 
reached the ultimate purchaser when it is dumped out 
at the smelter. Each may re-appear as a jack-knife or a 
hinge or an automobile. Taken collectively, the countless 
individual consumers of these manufactured products 
are known as society. It is the great social demand which 
makes possible and profitable the mining of coal and the 
production of the iron ore. It is the social demand, now 
rapidly increasing, which has created the profound 
interest in the intelligent and efficient use of these and all 
other mineral resources of our country. 

Domestic and Industrial Gas Wastes 

In the use of natural gas it is easier to see in the 
domestic consumer, the ultimate consumer, than it is in 
many other natural resources. In this same proportion it 
should be easier to see the principle involved. The use of 
natural gas in all of the large industries is more or less 
wasteful. In fact, waste attaches to every form of use of 
natural gas, but it is a fact that the domestic consumer 
undoubtedly represents a higher degree of efficiency of 
use than any other. Great industrial waste in natural 
gas consumption attaches to the glass manufacturing 
industry, the zinc smelting industry, and the carbon 
black manufacturing industry. Of these three the greatest 
waste attaches to the last, for carbon black manufacture is 
considerably less than 5 per cent efficient. 

While great waste attaches to the use of natural gas in 
the glass industry, the relative stability of plants manu- 
facturing glass requires them to be more or less sub- 



130 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 




WHERE A PIPE LINE WITHSTOOD A WASHOUT 

Through the long distances which the gas pipe lines in Kentucky come, 
many strange and unexpected things happen. Gas companies must be 
careful to watch for leaks. Here a "bad washout did not interrupt the 
service. 



Natural Gas Conservation 131 

servient to public service corporations, which in turn now 
properly require each industrial consumer to reduce his 
waste by the imposition of a sliding scale upward of 
purchase. Economic laws, therefore, operate in this, as 
they do in the zinc smelting industry, to eliminate some 
degree of waste. Such laws do not operate for the carbon 
black manufacturer. In most cases he produces his own 
natural gas, and in those cases where he does not, he is an 
almost direct producer. He generally secures his supplies 
of natural gas without competition or impost of penalty 
for such large wastes as may creep advisedly or un- 
advisedly into his operations. 

A thoughtful consideration of the several problems 
involved in the conservation of natural gas indicates 
clearly that all industries using natural gas where other 
fuel can be substituted are opposing the principles of 
true conservation. A review of many of the practices 
inherent in the several natural gas industries discloses 
great extravagance in the use of natural gas and justifiably 
provokes the most severe criticism. The production of 
carbon black by any commercial method now known 
must be regarded as a very wasteful use of natural gas, 
although the product which is thus obtained is at the 
same time recognized as an important semi-necessary 
industrial mineral resource by-product. Since the im- 
portance of carbon black may be thus justifiably stressed, 
it becomes necessary to find a way whereby this industry 
may thrive and be rendered more efficient in its principles 
of production, rather than mercilessly obstructed and 
rendered commercially extinct. 

There is little justification for the wasteful consump- 
tion of natural gas to produce carbon black for export. 
The citizens of Kentucky, who are the ones vitally 
interested in the conservancy of their own limited supplies 



132 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 



of natural gas, will do well to look ahead but a few years 
and see a time when natural gas will be a very rare and 
much more costly fuel resource in Kentucky cities than 
it is today. The time is not far distant when many of 
our small towns will be unable to secure adequate supplies 




A "CLOSED IN" KENTUCKY GASSER 

All gas wells should be tubed and packed and "closed in" immediately 
after drilling. It is an economic crime to let gas wells "blow open." 

of natural gas at any price. Since it is impracticable to 
produce artificial gas for towns under 5,000 in population, 
the question as to what the small town in Kentucky will 
do then is an open one. The seriousness of the situation 
for all the States now using natural gas is shown in the 
following table, which indicates that of the 2,180 towns in 



Natural Gas Conservation 



133 



the United States that have natural gas, 1,944 are under 
5,000 population and are, therefore, too small for manu- 
factured gas and must go without gas service when 
natural gas is gone. These towns represent about one- 
half of the natural gas consumers in the United States. 
Kentucky has 51 such small towns. 



Natural Gas Consuming Towns and Cities of the United States. 

1921 



STATE 


Number 

of Towns 

Over 5,000. 


Towns 
too 

Small. 


Domestic 

Consumers 

in Towns 

Over 5,000. 


Domestic 

Consumers 

in Towns too 

Small for 

Manufactured 

Gas. 


Alabama 

Arkansas 

California 

Illinois _ _ 




6 

13 

5 

15 

22 

11 

2 

2 

6 



13 



68 

12 

39 



11 

10 




2 

25 

57 

23 

106 

113 

51 

17 

13 

9 

3 

134 

1 

459 

110 

505 

2 

49 

267 

5 




21,000 

96,200 

8,600 

25, 000 

78, 000 

77,800 

7,600 

5,400 

76, 800 



131, 200 



455, 200 

38, 200 

242, 600 



55, 200 

31, 600 




102 

742 

164, 567 

69 


Indiana _ 


6,032 


Kansas 


52, 350 


Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maryland 


13, 049 
16, 770 


Missouri___ . . 


3,238 


Montana 

New York 

North Dakota 

Ohio 


1,198 

38, 108 

6 

430, 676 

82, 307 

238, 675 

391 

24, 655 

95, 568 

999 


Oklahoma 

Pennsylvania 

South Dakota. __ 
Texas 


West Virginia 

Wyoming 




235 


1,944 


1,350,400 


1, 169, 512 



A review of the natural gas rates now in effect in 
twenty-five representative Kentucky cities and small 
towns shows an average domestic flat rate of 40^ cents 
per M cubic feet. A comparison with the maximum 



134 



Natural Gas of Kentucky 




Natural Gas Conservation 135 

rate of $1.90 per M cubic feet and the minimum rate of 
$0.95 per M cubic feet paid by domestic consumers in 
cities surrounding Kentucky for the use of artificial gas, 
is at once illustrative of the great advantage enjoyed by 
domestic consumers of natural gas in Kentucky. Once 
the natural gas reserves of this State are depleted, the 
installation of artificial gas in our cities is the next step. 
When this time comes, gas rates somewhat comparable 
to those of the second following table (page 136) may be 
expected: 

REPRESENTATIVE KENTUCKY CITIES USING 
NATURAL GAS 

Rates in effect January 1, 1922. 

Rate 
Name Per M Company Supplying 

Cu.Ft 

1 Ashland 30c United Fuel Gas Company. 

2 Barbourville 38-80c Barbourville Supply Co. 

3 Campbellsville 38c Green River Gas Co. 

4 Catlettsburg 35c United Fuel Gas Company. 

5 Central City 90c Central Gas Co. 

6 Clintonville 50c Blue Grass Natural Gas Co. 

7 Cloverport 54c Cloverport Gas Co. 

8 Covington 45-60c Union Light, Heat & Power Co. 

9 Frankfort 50c Frankfort Natural Gas Co. 

10 Greeneburg 38c Green River Gas Co. 

11 Greenup 35c United Fuel Gas Company. 

12 Inez 35c United Fuel Gas Company. 

13 Lexington 40c Cent. Ky. Natural Gas Co. 

14 Louisa 35c United Fuel Gas Co. 

15 Louisville 35c Lou. Gas and Electric Co. 

16 Maysville 35c Maysville Gas Co. 

17 Midway 40c Cent. Ky. Natural Gas Co. 

18 Mt. Sterling 40c Cent. Ky. Natural Gas Co. 

19 Paintsville 40c Johnson Co. Natural Gas Co. 

20 Paris 40c Paris Gas & Electric Co. 

21 Russell 35c United Fuel Gas Co. 

22 Versailles 40c Cent. Ky. Natural Gas Co. 

23 Warfield 35c United Fuel Gas Co. 

24 West Liberty 20c Collier Oil & Gas Co. 

25 Winchester 40c Cent. Ky. Natural Gas Co. 

General average rate 40.5 cents. 

NOTE — Gas for local companies supplying Clintonville, Frankfort, 
Maysville, Paintsville and Paris is furnished by Central Kentucky Natural 
Gas Company. 



136 Natural Gas of Kentucky 



Representative Cities of the Eastern United States Consum- 
ing Artificial Gas and Flat Rate to Domestic Con- 
sumer, Effective January 1, 1922. 

Per 1000 
Cu. Ft. 

Brooklyn, N. Y 5 

Brooklyn Borough Gas Co $1.35 

Brooklyn Union Gas Co 1.25 

Flatbush Gas Co 1.25 

Kings County Lighting Co 1.50 

Chattanooga. 

Chattanooga Gas Co 1.75 

Chicago, 111. 

Peoples Gas, Light and Coke Co 1.15 

Far Rockaway. 

Queens Borough Gas and Electric Co 1.40 

Flushing. 

New York and Queens Gas Co 1.60 

Memphis. 

National Power and Light Co 1.35 

Nashville. 

Nashville Gas and Heating Co 1.90 

New York City. 

New Amsterdam Gas Co 1.20 

Bronx Gas and Electric Co., et al 1.50 

Central Union Gas Co 1.25 

Consolidated Gas Co 1.25 

New York Mutual Gas Light Co 1.20 

Northern Union Gas Co 1.25 

Jamaica Gas Light Co 1.20 

Philadelphia. 

Northern Liberties Gas Co 1.10 

Philadelphia Gas Works 1.00 

St. Louis. 

Laclede Gas Light Co .95 

Washington. 

Georgetown Gas Light Co 1.25 

Washington Gas Light Co 1.25 

Since there can be no doubt but that the best and 
most intelligent use of the natural gas resources of this 
State would be one directed toward the benefit of the 
largest number of our own people and our posterity, it 
may be wise for us to think seriously of drawing a line 
between the carbon black manufacturer who produces 
for domestic consumption only, and he who produces 



Natural Gas Conservation 



137 



either in part or in whole for foreign trade or export. 
This suggestion is made in all seriousness, since it must 
be evident that there is no way by which the citizenship 
of this State can ever be adequately recompensed for 
the great loss of natural gas sustained. From a domestic 




DRAINAGE VS. A GAS PIPE LINE 

In order to avoid obstructing a farm drainage ditch a twelve-inch gas 
line was here lowered eighteen feet. In the neighborhood of large cities 
natural gas transmission line construction is beset by many obstacles. 

standpoint, the total benefits derived from such a traffic 
are shared by a very few selfish individuals. The foreign 
aspects are the improvement to a small degree of inter- 
national commerce and the advancement of the inter- 



138 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

ests of competitive industries in other countries. To 
rapidly dissipate in Kentucky so important and limited 
a natural resource as natural gas in the interest of such 
small returns, is not merely profligate negligence, it is an 
economic crime. 

Besides the export phase of the carbon black industry, 
which to a State like Kentucky is positively without 
recommendation, there are other angles of the business 
that deserve inspection and criticism from the stand- 
point of conservancy. Foremost among these is the 
manufacture and sale of carbon black to such indus- 
tries as might well provide a substitute. A splendid 
instance for this class would be the automobile rubber 
tire industry, where adequate substitutes for fillers, 
such as oxide of zinc, which was used in the pre-war 
period, may now be brought back into service. The 
inexpediency of stifling the carbon black industry in so 
far as it produces carbon black for the printing ink 
industry of this country is at once manifest. Here is an 
instance where there is no known "just as good" materials 
or reliable substitutes. Newspaper inks equal to those 
made from pigments of carbon black are not known. 
The great waste of natural gas is here, to some degree 
at least, justified, for we must have newspapers, and we 
must have inks with which to print them, in Kentucky 
as well as everywhere else in this country. 

Competing Interests vs. Conservancy 

The relationship of the carbon black producer and 
the public utilities corporation in the field has not been 
clearly defined. The principles of fair play demand that 
both should have the same right to search or prospect 
for natural gas. When the natural gas has been dis- 
covered, the principles of conservation enter into the 



Natural Gas Conservation 



139 




140 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

problem. It now appears that each should be guaran- 
teed an unmolested prosecution of its business so long as 
neither one nor the other endangers the best interests of 
the general public in the conservancy of the remaining 
supplies of natural gas. Since it is widely recognized 
that natural gas supplying public utilities corporations 
approach nearer to a strictly efficient use of this natural 
resource than any other, and since through them greater 
regulation of the conservation of natural gas may be 
obtained through the rules of State Conservation Com- 
missions than in any other way, their operation is recom- 
mended, while the use of natural gas for all wasteful 
industrial enterprises must be condemned. This final 
interpretation has been arrived at generally by all con- 
servancy commissions and scientific bodies that have 
found it necessary to give the matter careful considera- 
tion. 

In the light of these interpretations, the operation of 
carbon black plants within any large proven gas field 
which is serving through a public utilities corporation a 
large group of domestic consumers, must be considered 
as a serious menace to true conservation. Isolated gas 
pools not fundamentally necessary to public service 
demands, either present or future, are without doubt 
the rightful field for the manufacture of carbon black, 
and it is - held that the carbon black industry should 
not only be directed to such pools, but once established 
here should be as carefully protected as possible. Car- 
bon black's best interest, from the standpoint of the 
conservation of its available resources, may even here 
be safe-guarded by proper legislative restriction which 
will insure for it a longer lease on the life of its rapidly 
depleting supplies of natural gas. Projecting the pre- 
sent uncontrolled volume of the carbon black industry 



Natural Gas Conservation 



141 




A GAS PIPE LINE NEAR THE BIG SANDY 

In the construction of this line, here shown in progress, all the bare 
area was a large slip and had to he tile drained to prevent further 
movement. 



142 Natural Gas of Kentucky 



into the future, the interested public may be assured 
that within a few decades carbon black as a natural gas 
by-product will be an industrial relic in all of the Eastern 
States, including Kentucky. American carbon black 
will then be produced only in those isolated sections of 
this country where newly discovered supplies of natural 
gas are far beyond the reach of the public utilities pipe 
ines. 

Natural Gas Conservation Measures 

As measures of natural gas conservation the following 
principles are recommended for gas field operation: 
(1) the prompt closing of gas wells; (2) the proper casing 
of gas wells to prevent underground waste; (3) the proper 
casing and tubing and packing of gas wells to prevent 
waste; (4) regulation of the amount of gas which may be 
used in firing well, drilling boilers and the method of burning 
such gas; (5) outlawing of the use of the gas flambeaux or 
torch; (6) the drilling of fewer offset wells; (7) the proper 
plugging of oil, gas and salt water sands; (8) outlawing of 
the practice of blowing gas wells to secure oil; (9) the 
outlawing of extensive blowing of gas wells in order to 
free them from water; (10) proper regulation of the 
lowering of rock pressure in order to avoid too rapid a 
diminution of natural gas flow. 

To further promote the conservation of natural gas, 
the following principles are recommended for the guidance 
of public service corporations, domestic consumers, and 
the interested public: (1) regulation of inspection, cover- 
ing the leakage, gathering, transmission and distributing 
lines; (2) the installation of leak proof measuring devices 
by the ultimate consumer; (3) the drying of natural gas 
where necessary to avoid blowing drips; (4) the abolition 



Natural Gas Conservation 



143 




144 Natural Gas of Kentucky 

of free gas and flat gas rates; (5) the abolition of cheap 
gas for manufacturing, and in its place the institution of 
a sliding scale upward; (6) a proper regulation and 
limitation of the carbon black industry and all other 
wasteful natural gas industries so that they will conform 
as nearly as possible or practicable to the best principles 
of conservation; (7) the outlawing of exports to foreign 
countries of carbon black manufactured in Kentucky; 
(8) the standardization of heating, lighting and cooking 
appliances using mixers so as to produce the most efficient 
use of natural gas; (9) the compulsory installation of 
thermostats regulating large natural gas heating devices, 
such as furnaces, etc.; (10) a discontinuance of discount 
practices by natural gas companies for low pressure or 
peak periods; (11) the adoption by municipalities gener- 
ally of franchise regulations providing for the mixing of 
artificial gas with natural gas during periods of increased 
demand or peak load; (12) the education of the public in 
general and the domestic consumer in particular concern- 
ing the rigidly limited and rapidly diminishing natural gas 
reserves of Kentucky and adjoining States; (13) the 
adoption by every one of the most efficient methods and 
appliances for handling and consuming natural gas, and 
the strictest enforcement throughout of the principles of 
true conservation. 



The End. 



SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 



These publications discuss the production, utilization and con- 
servation of natural gas. The several gas industries are 
adequately discussed. 

1 Ambrose, A. W. 

Underground Conditions in Oil Fields. U. S. Bureau of 
Mines, Bull. 195, Petroleum Tech. 62, 1921. 

2 Arnold, R., and Garfias, V. R. 

The Cementing Process of Excluding Water from Oil Wells 
as Practiced in California. U. S. Bureau of Mines, Tech. 
Paper 32, Petroleum Tech. 3, 1913. 

The Prevention of Waste of Oil and Gas from Flowing 
Wells in California. U. S. Bureau of Mines, Tech. Paper 
42, Petroleum Tech. 8, 1914. 

3 Curtis, Thomas. 

Casing Troubles and Fishing Methods in Oil Wells. U. S. 
Bureau of Mines, Bull. 182, Petroleum Tech. 57, 1920. 

4 Dykewa, W. P., and Neal, Roy O. 

Absorption as Applied to Recovery of Gasoline left in 
Residual Gas from Compression Plants. U. S. Bureau of 
Mines, Tech. Paper 232, Petroleum Tech. 53, 1920. 

5 Ely, R. T. 

Conservation and Economic Theory. A. I. M. E., Vol. 54, 
p. 458. 

6 Gilbert, Chester G., and Pogue, Joseph E. 

The Energy Resources of the United States : A Field for 
Reconstruction, pp. 26-100, U. S. Nat. Museum Bull. 102, 
Vol. 1, 1919. 

7 Jillson, W. R. 

Oil and Gas Resources of Kentucky. Ky. Geol. Survey, 
Series V, Vol. I, 1919. 

Contributions to Kentucky Geology. Ky. Geol. Survey, 
Series V, Vol. VI, 1920. 

Economic Papers on Kentucky Geology, Ky. Geol. Survey, 
Series VI, Vol. II, 1921. 

8 Johnson, R. H., and Huntley, L. G. 

Principles of Oil and Gas Production, p. 99. John Wiley 
& Sons. 1916. 

9 Johnson, R. H. 

Legal and Economic Factors in the Conservation of Oil 
and Gas. Govt. Printing Office, Washington, 1917. 



146 Selected Bibliography 



10 Leith, C. K. 

International Control of Minerals. Mineral Resources of 
U. S., Part I, U. S. G. S., 1918. 

The Economic Aspects of Geology. Henry Holt & Co., 
1921. See Chapter XVII. 

11 McClelland, E. H. 

Lamp Black — A Bibliography. Carnegie Library, Pitts- 
burgh, 1919. 

12 McMurray, W. F., and Lewis, J. O. 

Underground Waste in Oil and Gas Fields and Methods of 
Prevention. Tech. Paper 130, U. S. Bureau of Mines. 

13 Orton, Edward. 

Occurrence of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Asphalt Rock 
in Western Kentucky. Ky. Geol. Survey, Series II, 1891. 

14 Peterson, Frank P. 

The Production of Gasoline from Natural Gas. Pub. 
Bessemer Gas Engine Co., Grove City, Pa., 1913. 

15 Pogue, Joseph E. 

The Economics of Petroleum, John Wiley and Sons, 1921. 

16 Rogers, G. Sherburne. 

The Cleveland Gas Field, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. U. S. 
G. S. Bull. 661-A, 1917. 

17 Sievers, E. G. 

Carbon Black Produced from Natural Gas in 1920. Min- 
eral Resources of U. S., 1920, Part II. U. S. G. S., pp. 
145-149. 

18 Smith, George Otis. 

Our Mineral Reserves. U. S. G. S. Bull. 599, 1914. 
The Economic Limits to Domestic Independence in Min- 
erals. Mineral Resources of United States, Part I, U. S. 
G. S., 1918. 

19 United States Geological Survey. 

Mineral Resources of the United States, 1888 to 1920, in 
whole or in part. 

20 Van Hise, C. R. 

The Conservation of Natural Resources in the United 
States. 

21 Westcott, Henry P. 

Hand Book of Natural Gas, Metric Metal W r orks, Erie, Pa., 

1915. 

Hand Book of Casinghead Gas, Metric Metal Works, 

Erie, Pa., 1918. 

22 Wyer, Samuel S. 

Natural Gas: Its Production, Service and Conservation. 
U. S. Nat. Museum Bull. 102, Part 7, 1918. 
Present and Prospective Supply of Natural Gas Available 
in Pennsylvania. Private edition. 1918. 



INDEX 

A 

Page 

Alabama 133 

Appalachian Region 15 

Arnold, Ralph 119 

Ashland 16, 72, 135 

Ashley, Geo. H 112 

B 

Bain, H. Foster 105 

Barbourville Gas Field 31, 61 

Barren County 24 

Beaver Creek Gas Field 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 69 

Beaver Creek Gas Field, Map of 96 

Big Sandy River 28, 141 

Big Sandy Valley 29 

Bownocker, J. A 111 

Brandenburg 26 

Breathitt ■ 28, 30 

Breckinridge County 27 

Brooklyn, N. Y 136 

C 

California 133 

Campbell, C. W 114 

Campbellsville 29 

Carbons 88 

Carbon Black • 80, 81 

Carbon Black, Formation 92 

Carbon Black, History 82 

Carbon Black, Method of Production 89 

Carbon Black Production 83 

Carbon Black Production in U. S- 85 

Carbon Black, Users of 86 

Catlettsburg 72 

Central City Gas Field 31, 58 

Central Kentucky Natural Gas Co 68, 69, 71 

Charleston • 16 



148 Index 



Page 

China 87 

Cincinnati ■ 16, 72 

Cities Consuming Natural Gas 133 

Clay County 21 

Cleveland • 16 

Cloverport Gas Field 31, 64 

Coal, "Ground Hogging" 20 

Columbia Gas & Electric Co 30, 69 

Columbus . 16 

Conservancy 138 

Covington 72 

Critical Comment, Trend of 103 

D 

Davis, W. H 119 

Diamond Springs Gas Field 31, 58 

Duffy, W. H 114 

E 

Eastern Carbon Co 98 

Eichelberger, F. O., City Manager 117 

Elk Fork Gas Field , 31, 43 

England 87 

Ethane • 88 

F 

Flat Gap Gas Field 30, 31, 41 

Floyd County 23, 28, 30, 69, 98 

France • • 87 

Frankfort ---• 69 

Frozen Creek Gas Field ■ 30, 31, 33 

G 

Glasgow Gas Field 31, 57 

Grayson County 23 

Green County --23, 30 

Green River Gas Field 31, 52, 53 



Ixdex 149 



H 

Page 

Hall, Grant P., Mayor 117 

Hassell, J. W •— 106 

Hiseville Gas Field 31, 57 

Huntington • 16, 72 

I 

Illinois 133 

Indiana 133 

Inez 69 

Ironton • 72 

Island Creek Gas Field 31, 64 

Ivyton Gas Field 31, 45, 46 

J 

Japan 87 

Johnson County 23, 28, 30, 69 

Jones, E. N 119 

K 

Kansas 133 

Kansas Geological Survey 110 

Kentucky 72, 113, 133 

Kentucky Carbon Black Industry 94 

Kentucky Carbon Black Volume 99 

Kentucky Heating and Lighting Co 26 

Kentucky Natural Gas Pools 31, 75 

Kentucky Pipe Line Co _ 69, 71 

Kentucky River 134 

Kentucky Rock Gas Co 26 

Kentucky Towns and Cities 77 

Kermit Station 30 

Knott County 30 

Koontz, A. B 120 

L 

Leitchfield Gas Field 31, 55, 56 

Lexington 16, 69, 135 

Liberty Carbon Co 93, 94, 95, 97 



150 Index 



Page 
Louisa . 72 

Louisiana 133 

Louisville . _ 16, 26, 135 

M 

Magoffin County 30, 69 

Marshall, John D . 114 

Martin County 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 

Martin County Gas Field 38, 39, 40, 69 

Maryland 133 

McDonald, Donald 122 

Meade County 26, 27, 28, 30, 31 

Meade County Gas Field 53, 54 

Menifee County 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 139 

Menifee Gas Field — -• 47, 48, 69 

Meredith Gas Field 31, 63 

Methane • 88 

Midway < 69 

Mines, Bureau of 105 

Missouri 133 

Mize Gas Field • 31, 45 

Montana 133 

Monticello Gas Field 31 

Morgan, G. B 110 

Morgan County •-- 70 

Moore, R. <C 110 

Moorman Well 26 

Mt. Sterling 69 

N 

Natural Gas Conservation 124 

Natural Gas Consumers 76 

Natural Gas Industries 68 

NaturalGas Pools and Pipe Lines 32 

Natural Gas Resources 26 

Natural Gas Shortage 112 

Natural Gas Structure 60 

Natural Gas Values 73, 79 



Index 151 

Page 

Natural Gas Volumes 72, 73, 74, 79 

Nelson, W. A 109 

Newcombe Creek Gas Field 31, 59 

New York - 133 

New York City 136 

Newport 72 

Nitrogens • 88 

North Dakota - 133 



O 

Ohio • 68, 72, 113, 133 

Ohio Geological Survey 111 

Ohio River Gas Field 26 

Oil Field Waste — 56 

Oklahoma 133 

Oklahoma Geological Survey 106 

Oneida Gas Field 31, 49 



P 

Paintsville 69 

Paris • 135 

Pennsylvania 68, 133 

Pennsylvania Geological Survey 112 

Penrod Gas Field 31, 59 

Philadelphia 136 

Pierson, N. L _- 114 

Pittsburgh. 16 

Portsmouth 72 

Pressure Plant 78 

Prestonsburg Gas Field 31, 66 

Proctor, W. S., Gasser 56 

Public Utilities 100 



Q 
Quin, Huston, Mayor 116 



152 Index 



R Page 

Red Bush Gas Field 30, 31, 41 

Rock Fork Gas Field 31, 65 

S 

Sexton Creek Gas Field-- -31, 61 

Shannon, C. W 107 

Smith, D. D., Mayor 117 

Smith, George Otis 123 

Smith, Philip S 104 

South Dakota 133 

Sparta Gas Field - 31, 67 

T 

Taylor County 23, 30 

Temple Hill Gas Field 31, 62 

Tennessee Geological Survey : 109 

Texas •-- 133 

Tonkin, T. J 122 

Tug Fork • 28 

U 

United Fuel Gas Co —29, 69, 71 

United States 15, 17, 19 

United States Geological Survey 104, 123 

V 
Versailles 69 

W 

Washington • 136 

West Virginia --26, 28, 30, 68, 113, 133 

West Virginia Geological Survey 109 

Wheeling 16 

White, I. C 109 

Williamsburg Gas Field 31, 50 

Win Gas Field 30, 31, 42, 43, 44 

Winchester 69, 135 

Wyoming 133 

Wyoming Geological Survey 110 



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